The Shadowbender: The Shadowbender Chronicles
by Jex the Jagged
Summary: "Shadow is ever besieged, for that is its nature. Whilst darkness devours, and light steals. And so one sees shadow ever retreat to hidden places, only to return in the wake of the war between dark and light." Kuseron is a thief, who finds himself in the presence of the Avatar. New Quote that I think fits! :D This story is now complete, but it's still a good read.
1. The Party

Another feast, another gala . . . It was the perfect chance to get into the palace. A thief like him profited off things like this. There was a perfect chance to get something from the King's palace. He had his eyes set on something of Bosco's, the king's pet Bear.

Fence's paid good money for high-risk stolen goods, all thieves knew that. It was common sense.

A hooded figure swung a hook around, throwing it upwards into the air. The hook caught onto a ledge and the figure pulled, the line was taut and sturdy. Taking a quick risk, and looking around, the blood red eyes made sure no one was in sight. This figure's name was Kuseron. There was no shame in stealing. It made him money...

He quickly scaled the side of the wall, swinging up on the ledge quickly. Kuseron huffed silently. "Let's see, got my fancy getup. Now I need to..."

Kuseron trailed off, eyes falling on two young girls. They were probably close to his age. He removed his hood, blood red eyes watching them with interest, his shaggy black hair falling into his face. They had been denied entrance, now... Why were they heading towards Long Feng? One girl was a tall, and tan goddess. She had azure blue eyes and hair braided back with a... Water tribe necklace? Kuseron looked at the other girl, she looked equally attractive. She was obviously from the Earth Kingdom. The green eyes said it all, but her eyes were slightly hazed over. Kuseron leaned in.

"Sir?" The tall, tan girl spoke, "I'm sorry to bother you but my cousin lost our invitations..." She gave him a small, cheeky smile leaning up a bit. "She's blind," She returned back to standing on her feet. "Do you think you can help us? Our family is inside and I'm sure they're very worried about us."

"I am honored." Long Feng bowed slightly. "Please come with me." Were they thieves? They surely acted like it, or were they assassins? He knew the façade of assassins and thieves. Heck, he was a thief.

Kuseron watched them walk away, the two girls making raspberries when they pasted the guard that had denied them entrance. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He snuck across the roof before lowering himself into a hallway and pulling on his 'fancy' clothing. Kuseron wore a black baggy long sleeve shirt, over it a sleeveless red shirt with a hood attached to it, grey silk pants and light black shoes. He quickly fixed his black mop into a more suitable look. Kuseron looked down at his hands, running his fingers over his tattoos on the back of his hands. Then he flipped his left hand over, looking at the eye.

_Got to move quickly._ He slipped into the large room, mixing into the crowd quickly.

He found himself near Long Feng and the two girls again. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Long Feng mused. Kuse shivered slightly. Didn't these two have common sense? "By the way, I'm Long Feng. I'm a cultural minister to the King..."

The tall one spoke for them, "I'm Qa Mai and this is Dum." The shorter girl, pulled lightly on the other girl's hair, clearly displeased. Kuseron smirked; they were obviously hiding their true identity. "Now were is your family? I'd love to meet them."

"Uh..." The Tall one had no back-up plan. Kuseron quickly stepped in. "Qa! Dum! There you two are!" The two immediately looked at him, quite startled. Long Feng turned around to him. "And who are you?"

Kuseron bowed slightly, "I am Kuseron, their older brother." Long Feng was eyeing him suspiciously.

"Alright, I let you take them to your family then."

"Thank you sir." Kuseron nodded to the two girls, they stepped forward and towards him. Long Feng slipped away into the crowd.

"Thank you." 'Qa Mai' said to him. He turned on both of them, glaring down at the two.

"Who are you really?" He hissed. The one who could see shied away from him. The other girl just frowned slowly. "Are you thieves or assassins?" Kuseron waited for his answer.

He did not expect what 'Qa Mai' said next. "My name is Katara and this is my friend, Toph. We're here to see the Earth King, because one of our friends is the Avatar..." He cracked a smile, immediately beginning to laugh. That was such a horrible lie!

He drew back, "You'll have to come up with a better lie than that Sweet cheeks." Katara visibly stiffened at this.

"Where are Toph and Katara?"

Kuseron blinked.

"Forget about them. Just keep an eye out for the King."

They were assassins. Kuseron sneered. "You won't even make it ten feet near the Earth King."

Katara shook her head. "No. No." The other girl, Toph spoke. They were right by the other two boys that were obviously apart of their train. "Another Crab puff please." Kuse turned to look at Toph. Was she even blind? He looked at the other two boys. One was much akin to Katara. They might be related. The other busboy was a fun looking kid, probably bald. Kuseron watched them. "You found us!" The probably bald kid said, smiling.

"I'd know your tiny footsteps anywhere Twinkletoes." Kuseron turned to Katara but she had turned to the other boy, her brother. Toph turned to him. "I see through my feet, I'm blind but I can see."

Kuseron slowly nodded. "Alright." He didn't understand this concept.

"Thanks for letting us in."

"Sorry, this guy we asked to get us in wouldn't let out us out of his sight until..." She turned her head to him. "Kuseron." He said simply. Katara nodded. "Kuseron stepped in to get him off our case."

It was time to step out. "What guy?" Kuseron watched a woman run up, looking quite nervous.

"What are you doing here?" The Woman hissed through thin lips. "You have to leave immediately," _Know what... I'll stick around._ He leaned back slightly, watching with mild interest. "Or we'll all be in big trouble!"

Kuseron watched Katara's brother block the woman from coming near him, "Not until we see the king."

"You don't understand, you must go!" The woman pushed the boy into the bald one, a chain reaction occurring. Katara's brother bumped into the other boy and the boy spilt the water on a nearby woman. Kuseron began to laugh. Well, until...

"Sorry! No, don't shout." The boy... Airbended. His hat flew off and Kuseron blinked. It was the Avatar.

The woman who had been so forcefully blasted confirmed his idea, "The Avatar." She made a small 'oo' sound. "I didn't know the Avatar would be here."

Everyone began to gather around them. Kuseron began to slip away from the crowd, making his way for a hall but rock solid hands grabbed him from behind. He was pulled forcefully away and into a hall.

"Let go of me!" He growled, struggling in the stony grasps of the two men. They were Dai Li! Of course. They must have known he was coming! "Silence." One of them hissed. He would not surrender, nor would he be silent! Kuseron slammed his feet into the ground; the two Dai Li agents flew away from him. The stone hands that had his hands, were now gone.

He pulled out his mask; it gave him the face of an Armadillo-Wolf. Kuseron slipped it on, turning to the other Dai Li agents. Toph, Katara and Katara's brother were staring at him. Had they seen him bend the darkness? He raised his hands, the eye on his left hand pointed outwards, his right hand was drawn close to his chest and he narrowed his blood red eyes. "I will not be taken anywhere." He growled. The Dai Li knew a lot about him, but they did not know how he bended the darkness. Kuseron moved his left hand diagonally, before bringing it back to him and thrusting it upwards in an uppercut sort of way. The Dai Li agent by Toph flew into the ceiling and he ducked out of the way of two stone hands.

He threw his right hand outwards and spun around, lashing out into their air with his feet and then thrusting both hands out. The last Dai Li agent fell to the ground and he let out an angry huff.

"Did he just...?" Katara's brother trailed off. Toph looked confused, she was looking between the boy and Katara. "What? What did he do?"

Katara stepped forward, "What... How did you do that?"

Kuseron pulled his mask off, slipping it into an inner pocket. "I'm a Shadowbender. Darkness is my element." He had no idea why he just said that straight out flat. Nobody, not even the closest thief-friend he had knew that. Kuseron watched their faces morph into ones of shock and wonder. He didn't have time for this!

"Sokka, we should—" The Dai Li agents were back up but they did not fight back, Kuseron tried to but was unable to fight.

They were dragged into a room, the library of the Palace. Kuseron was released. Everyone was released and seconds later, The Avatar and Long Feng came in.

Sokka was the first to speak. "Why won't you let us talk to the King? We have important information that could defeat the Fire Nation!"

He raised his brows in surprise. They were here because of the Fire Nation... They had a lot of guts, especially to say that to Long Feng. He would probably try to brainwash them or something! Kuseron narrowed his eyes, thinking quickly. He wasn't going to get caught. Feng probably knew he was a thief. Long Feng answered quickly and calmly. "The Earth King has no time to deal with political squabbles nor the day to day minutia of Military activity."

He couldn't help but snort. Basically, the Earth King was his puppet, a puppet figure. Long Feng looked at him, eyes deadly. "And he has no time to deal with a thief like you..." He signaled to a Dai Li agent who walked forward, ready to put him in those stone handcuffs, but the Avatar stepped in the way. "He's not going anywhere."

Kuseron was once again, amazed. The Avatar knew nothing about him, but he was still going to stand in the way of a Dai Li agent? The Shadowbender shifted slightly. They knew he was a thief now, what would they do later?

They returned to their conversation when the Dai Li agent backed away. "This could be the most important thing the Earth King has ever heard." Long Feng frowned slowly. What was he to say in response? Probably something that made the King lesser than him, no doubt about that. "What is most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties result in issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's sources, including the military."

Katara looked angry as she stepped forward slightly, "So the King is just a Figurehead."

Toph stepped forward, even angrier than Katara. "He's your puppet!"

Kuseron whistled, waving a hand casually. "Couldn't agree more."

Everyone looked at him for a second before they turned their attention back to Long Feng, who was shaking his head and waving his hands. "Oh. No, No. His majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the changes of an endless war." Long Feng's eyes grew as sharp as flint.

Sokka stepped forward hastily, "But we found out about a Solar Eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless! You could lead an invas—" Long Feng stood, eyes holding anger. He cut into Sokka's words.

"Enough!"

He tuned them out for a moment, as a winged lemur came over to his feet. The Shadowbender bent down slightly, holding out an arm to the thing. It chirped at him, or whatever the noise was and scrambled away over to the Avatar. Kuseron tuned back into the words. "—The strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls." Kuseron knew the drill. He tuned them out again, swiping an expensive looking Paperweight into his jacket before stepping back into the shadows, looking around.

"—Utopia. The Last one on Earth."

Kuseron turned back around, having found a tome that a Fence would probably pay well for. He had also nabbed a dagger, had to lock pick it out of its case but it was worth it.

Everyone was radiating with anger, except him. Spirits, he had to live with this all day, every day. "You can't keep the truth from all these people. They have to know!" Katara said quickly.

"I'll tell them. I'll make sure everyone knows." The Avatar stepped forward, glaring angrily at Long Feng. The brooding, self-centered man stepped forward, looking down at the Avatar. "Until now, you have been treated as an honored guest, but from now on you will be watched at every moment by Dai Li agents."

The Man walked away, looking into the green fire. "If you mention the war to anyone, you will be expelled from the city. I understand you have been looking for your bison, it'd be a shame if you did not complete your quest."

Kuseron tilted his head inquisitively. This seemed to make the Avatar a little shocked by what he could tell. "Now Joo Dee will show you home." The doors swung open and a woman walked in, it was not the same woman from earlier... "And take the thief with you." Long Feng finished.

"Come with me please." Kuseron watched Katara and the others steps back, confusion on their faces. Well, except for Toph, she hadn't moved and was only slightly surprised by the way she looked. "Where's Joo Dee?" Katara muttered.

"I'm Joo Dee and I'll be your host for as long as you're in our beautiful city." She bowed slightly before smiling. They were escorted out of the palace quickly to a carriage. That's when things got a little... difficult. Kuseron was not getting into that carriage. No way in the world.

"Oh no! You are not getting me into that thing!" He cried, eyes on the woman that called herself Joo Dee.

Joo Dee looked out at him, "You must. I am to escort you to the outer ring."

He clenched his fists, "Exactly! I'm not going back to the Outer ring!" Actually, he just didn't want to go with these guys. They were oddballs, just like him. Someone behind him pushed him towards the carriage with a grunt, "Just get in already!" It was Toph that pushed him. She pushed by him as well as Sokka.

"No!" Kuseron whistled loudly into the silent air. "Not yet." He growled. Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. Until they all heard a growl. "Chiel!" A grey haired, black-back plated Armadillo wolf ran up, carrying a bag in his mouth. The young Armadillo wolf was only a pup. This was his best friend.

"Now will you get into the stupid carriage?" Toph muttered. Chiel was a smart pup, he opened the pack and got in, Kuse placed the items he had stolen into the bag and patted his pet.

"Don't be so rude. My pet is _very_ important to me." He mused and stepped into the carriage. Chiel growled at the lemur across the carriage, and he watched the door close. Great. He was going back to the Outer ring. He coughed slightly, "I don't think I've officially met any of you. My name is Kuseron."

The Avatar piped up first. "My name is Aang."

Katara's brother spoke next, still in the busboy outfit. "My name is Sokka, that's my sis," He pointed at Katara.

She had removed most of the getup she had on. Wearing what he thought was traditional Water tribe clothing. "I'm Katara."

The Blind girl huffed, leaning back with a frown. "And I'm Toph."

Aang spoke again, "And this is Momo, our winged lemur." The lemur, Momo screeched at Chiel, who growled back.

"Well, this is Chiel, my Armadillo wolf." He replied to them, petting Chiel lightly, whom was still growling a bit.

Everything went silent again and Kuseron frowned slowly, pulling up his hood. He had to go back to the Outer Ring. _Spirits help me._ The Carriage drew to a stop and everyone began to leave, except Katara stopped when she stepped out. "Hey, Kuseron." He lifted his head to look at her.

"Do you want to stay with us, instead of going back to the outer ring?"

Thank the Spirits! He only shrugged, "Sure. Whatever..."

Joo Dee went to stop him but Chiel nipped at her, trying to scratch her as well. "Don't try to stop me woman."

He exited the carriage before blinking. Their house was amazing. They were lucky. It wasn't a hovel like his in the Outer Ring. He walked in after everyone. It was almost empty. Not really furnished at all, he could understand. They were 'guests' as Long Feng had put it.

"I'll show you to your room." He waved a hand at Aang. The Avatar was courteous but he couldn't intrude on their hospitality. "Actually, I'll just find one, you guys look like you need to speak with one another anyways."

He left them in the main room, coming to one room that was completely empty. "Here we go Chiel. We'll sleep here until tomorrow, then we'll go." He was debating on whether to stick around or not.

He turned around, facing the blind girl, Toph. "You said you were a Shadowbender?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's what I do."

"I thought they were only legend." Toph mused.

Kuseron shook his head. "Well, legend's are usually based on real things, Toph." Chiel was over by her feet, sniffing her inquisitively. Toph looked down at Chiel, a brow raised. "Don't mind him. He's naturally curious." He mused.

Toph reached down, holding out a hand to his Armadillo wolf. Chiel sniffed it before placing his nose in her hand, a simple courteous greeting. Kuse looked flabbergasted. She...? Chiel... His pet never ever let anyone near him, usually after sniffing someone he would run back to the Shadowbender. "He's a nice Armadillo wolf. Where'd you find him?"

Kuseron shook his head. "I was in the woods, he was injured, so I decided to help him."

"Hm. Guess he took a liking to you then?" Toph turned away and walked out of the room, ending the conversation just like that.

Chiel came trotting over to the Shadowbender as he sat down. "Traitor." He said teasingly. Chiel tilted his head in confusion.

Toph was different. She was blind and she saw through her feet. How was that possible? Was she an Earthbender as well? Kuse curled up on the mat he had set down earlier, pulling a blanket of fur over him and his armadillo-wolf. Maybe sticking around wouldn't be such a bad idea. He let his thoughts drift. Toph, from what he could tell, was a strong and hardy girl. She was blind, but could see. Toph had a personality that held a strong sense of independence; sarcasm, directness and she seemed stubborn as well. The Shadowbender frowned. More to think on later. He was in the house that the Avatar was in... Kuseron fell asleep quickly, a blanket of darkness wrapping around him.


	2. Girl's Day Out

Everyone seemed to be up bright and early this morning. Toph mentally groaned, rolling over. Well almost everyone was up. It seemed the new addition to the group was up but not out of his room. From the vibrations coming from the next room over, she could see him practicing bending.

Everyone else was in the bathroom. Aang shining his baldhead, Sokka using his machete to remove the growing mustache and Sugar Queen was just finishing up, and heading this way.

Guess she had to get up at some point in time. Toph heard the door squeak open and Katara gasp. "Toph, aren't you going to get ready for the day?" She pushed up, spitting into a nearby vase, it shook for a second before settling back into place. She could see Katara cringe at this.

She stood, brushing herself off in a swift sweep and stated quickly. "I'm ready."

"You're not going to wash up?" Katara asked, pointing at her. "You've got a bit of dirt on your... Everywhere, actually."

"You call it dirt, I call it a healthy coating of earth."

Katara paused in her thoughts. Toph only slightly wondered what she was thinking about. Then she immediately regretted wanting to know what Katara wanted, "You know what we need? A Girl's day out!"

Toph frowned slightly. She did not like the sound of that at all. "Do I have to?"

"It'll be fun!"

She slumped slightly. Whoop-de-doo. Toph quickly got ready, ignoring the fact that she was going out, to a spa... She stepped out of her room, still not wanting to go at all. Katara was waiting for her in the main room, "Ready to go?" Toph frowned more.

Then. An excuse came to her. "What about tall, dark and creepy and his pet?" She asked.

Katara frowned slightly. "I almost forgot about him. Maybe he'll want to tag along."

Really? A guy? Wanting to tag along on the way to a spa? Was Katara really going there? She followed her friend into the hallway and down to the Shadowbender's room. He was now meditating, with Chiel running around him, chasing a wind-up toy or something. "Hey Kuseron," The boy shifted. "Do you want to tag along with us on the way to the Spa?"

"Uh..." Toph mentally felt his hesitation. He did not have to come along but he could obviously tell she was being tortured, because she could see through the vibrations that he was looking at her. "Yeah, I guess I could come along." He gave a whistle, standing. "C'mon Chiel, into the bag."

Before she knew it, they were walking to the Spa. Lovely. Oh someone help her. She hung back slightly, while Katara was busy floating around the city on their way towards the Spa.

The Shadowbender was hanging around in the shadows, making sure he was out of sight. Toph wondered why. Long Feng had said he was a thief, but was it really true? She sighed, and could see Kuseron walking over to her. "You don't like the spa I take it."

"How'd you guess?" She grumbled and heard the guy actually chuckle.

"Not by your slightly angry look." He responded coolly, walking beside her slowly.

Toph shrugged. "I haven't been to a spa before, I don't really need to."

"I understand where you're coming from," Kuse mused and they stopped when Katara went to checking out a few stalls of food. The merchants were speaking happily to her, probably jacking up the price a bit. "You're blind. You don't have to worry about your appearance."

Toph smiled slightly. This guy was smart. He spoke again, kicking a rock away with his foot. "But you should at least give it a try. I mean there's a few things you'll probably like about the place." She nodded slightly.

They picked up their pace as they grew near the Spa. Katara was all happy about this. Kuseron only laughed slightly when they approached it. Katara said the name out loud, "The Fancy lady's day spa!" Toph slouched a little more.

Really? "The Fancy lady's day spa? Sounds like my kind of place..."

She heard Kuseron sigh a bit happily. "You guys have fun, I'm going to check out a few places around here. I'll try to meet you guys back here when you're done."

Toph almost asked him to wait. She did not want to do this. No way. Nada, never. Katara waved to the Shadowbender as he walked away before turning to her, "Are you ready for some serious pampering?"

Kuseron had told her that there was probably something she'd like about the Spa... "Sure Katara, whatever you say. As long as they don't touch my feet." She could try to be content. Maybe she'd really like something about this place.

They both walked into the spa, where they promptly moved them into the care plan of the day.

They tried to scrub her feet... The woman, who was trying to, got earthbended into a nearby wall.

Next was the mud-bath thing. She sent one woman away screaming, having made the mask on her face float slightly. Katara had laughed at that.

Then it was the sauna, where they spent a good while, relaxing and enjoying the relaxing feeling of the steam.

Then a few women put make-up on them, which was the end of the care plan and they left, feeling happy and refreshed.

Toph and Katara exited the place and they did not see Kuseron anywhere near them. So they began to head back to the house themselves, until they came to a bridge. A small group of girls were passing over. "Well that wasn't so bad." She mused, smiling a bit. "I'm usually not into that stuff, but I actually feel girlie." Katara walked beside her with a small skip in her step.

"I'm glad. It was about time we did something fun together."

That's when they began to pass over the bridge. The group of girls was giggling amongst themselves, gossiping or something. "Wow. Great make-up..."

Toph could tell she was the one being complimented, so in return she said, "Thanks."

That was not the end of it. The girls stopped walking, turning to look at them. "For a clown." The girls giggled and she felt a prickle of sadness escape into her heart. She stopped and Katara placed an arm on her shoulder. "Don't listen to them, let's just keep walking."

"I think she look cute. Like the time you put a sweater on your pet Poodle-monkey." The leader of the three spoke, laughing again. "Good one Star."

Toph blinked. Kuseron's words coming back to her. _I understand where you're coming from. You're blind. You don't have to worry about your appearance._ Katara spoke again, clearly mad at the girls, but she only turned, beginning to laugh. "No, No. That was a good one. Like your Poodle-monkey." She smirked slightly. "You know what else is a good one?"

She quickly stomped the ground, commanding the earth beneath her feet to disappear under the girls. She heard satisfying screams of surprise. Katara walked forward, looking down at them with a slight chuckle. "Now that was funny." She sent the girls away with a wave of water.

It was quiet until they got past the bridge, when Katara came running up. "Those girls don't know what they're talking about."

They kept walking. "It's okay. One of the good things about being blind is that; I don't have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I know who I am..." She trailed off, a tear running down her cheek. Katara spoke lightly, with a hint of complimentary. "That's what I really like about you Toph. You're so strong, confident and self-assured." Toph sniffed. "And I know it doesn't matter, but you're really pretty."

Toph lifted her head slightly, smiling a bit. "I am?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah, you are."

They began to walk forward again, and she replied. "I would return the compliment, but I have no idea what you look like." Katara laughed. "Thank you Katara." She lightly punched her on the shoulder, sending Katara into a side step but nonetheless they kept walking.

By the time they were halfway to the house, they found Kuseron, whom was browsing through the open market. "Kuseron!" Katara waved him over. The Shadowbender jogged over.

"Whoa. You guys look... incredible." Toph blinked her sightless eyes. He was saying that truthfully. By what she could tell, he was facing her, again. Katara laughed a bit. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do." He replied before they began to walk again. Katara took off at a fast pace. Toph hung back again and Kuseron walked beside her.

"Did you like it?" He asked.

She shrugged a bit. "Some of it I liked, other parts I didn't."

"I see." He lightly nudged her with his elbow. "I told you to give it a try didn't I?"

She smiled a bit. "Yes you did, and Thanks for telling me about not having to worry about my appearance earlier."

"Huh?" He was slightly confused at this. Toph didn't tell him why she was thanking him for that. "Oh, well. You're welcome?"

They made it back to the house quickly, where Sokka and Aang were waiting for them. Twinkletoes was having a hard time telling Katara how beautiful she was and Sokka was really just not caring. Kuse had gone to his room, and had not come back out. She wondered why he was a bit solitary. He joined them for Dinner before making to his room, and shutting the door. He did not come back out after that again.

* * *

_In... Out..._

_In... Out..._

_In... Out..._

_In... Ou—_

Kuseron opened his eyes as his door swung open. Light flooded in and he let out a surprised grunt. "Is it morning already?" He grumbled. Chiel ran out the door, having been whining earlier to go out and do his 'duty'. Kuse stood slowly, brushing himself off and looking at Toph. "Have you been meditating all night?" The Shadowbender shrugged, "So?" Toph huffed and walked away, muttering something about him being crazier than Aang.

Kuseron walked out into the main room, where Sokka was busy doing very rudimentary drawings of something. Toph was lying on the ground with Momo licking her feet. Chiel was running around after a fly. The Shadowbender walked forward, stretching his arms before he bent down and picked up one of the drawings. "What is this supposed to be?"

Sokka lifted his head, "Oh that's Appa..." Kuse gave him a confused look. He didn't know who this 'Appa' was. Or what he was. Sokka sighed. "It's Aang's Flying bison."

"That doesn't look like a Flying bison." He muttered and let the paper drift to the ground.

Chiel jumped into the pile of drawing, barking happily. The Pup caused Sokka to flip out, the brush in his hand sent flying into his face, leaving ink on his face. Sokka glared at Chiel, the pup's tail was wagging and he looked like he was having fun. His tail sent other drawings all over the place. The warrior grumbled under his breath, wiping off his face and went to collecting his papers.

Kuseron laughed and pulled out Chiel's wind-up rat, spinning the dial a few times before letting it go. The Armadillo wolf sent more papers flying and Sokka let out a incoherent stream of words.

He sat down, pulling out the items he had stolen from the palace. A paperweight, a dagger and a tome on the creation of Ba Sing Se's Walls. Schematics and such that showed how they had been built. Kuse only lifted his head when Aang came through the door, followed by Katara. Sokka was hard at work again. "We found a printer to make our posters!" The Two came to stand side by side on the stairs, smiling happily.

Katara pulled out the poster, flashing it to Sokka while Aang pointed at it. Kuse yawned. _A flying bison. Maybe I could..._ Steal it? That would be tricky. He didn't even know where the animal was. He could always find out though. Sokka sat up, clearly discontented. "Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa posters were my job."

Kuseron snorted, sticking out his tongue and put a thumb down. Sokka looked back at him with a glare. He grinned in response as the Water tribe boy looked back at Aang and his sister. "I've been working all day on my Appa." Kuse watched him lift up one of his posters and he laughed at Katara and Aang's reaction. Katara was trying to hold back a laugh. Aang put a hand to his head, "Sokka, the arrow is supposed to be on Appa's head." Sokka pointed to the picture, turning it sideways. "This _is_ his head."

Katara walked forward taking the picture out of Sokka's hands, "Why are feet coming out of it?" Sokka snatched the picture back with a scowl. "Those are his horns!"

Kuseron picked up his stolen goods, chuckling under his breath. Toph was listening now, slightly confused but not really caring. "I haven't seen him in a while okay?" Sokka muttered, admitting his defeat. Toph grinned slowly, "It looks just like him to me!" Sokka looked over at Toph with a reassured smile, "Thank you, I worked really—" Kuseron snickered at Sokka's expression. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

Kuseron let Chiel climb into his bag. Toph didn't answer him. "Let's just stick to the professional version..." Katara said. Sokka didn't respond quite happily. He ripped up the drawing and glared at Katara.

"C'mon Let's get busy!" Aang said cheerfully.

Kuseron lifted his hand. "Well before you start putting up posters, I have an idea."

Everyone turned to look at him. Kuse hated to say it a loud. "As you guys know, I am a thief." He was expecting mixed reactions, but they simply were quiet. "I know a Fence, that transports stolen animals. He may be able to locate Appa for you."

Aang was thinking about this before he nodded slowly, "Where do we have to go?" The Shadowbender pulled out a few cloaks. Throwing them at them in turn. "You'll need to put those on, except you Toph. You already can play the part of a young thug or thief."

Toph stood up, "Really?"

"Yeah." Kuseron replied, pulling out his mask and putting it on.

Toph smirked slightly, "Sweet..."

He took them to a sewer entrance, which was not that hard to find around in the Upper ring. "This is one of the many entrances to the Undercity... Listen to me carefully. Aang, Katara and Sokka. You guys are my clients, looking to buy an exotic animal. Toph, you are a hired thug." He quickly shadowbended the top off the entrance and looked at all of them. "You will follow me, but not say anything. At all."

He leapt down into the sewers, landing lightly in the sewage that flowed through the Undercity. Everyone else came down one by one until they all stood in the sludge. "It's too dark down here." Sokka complained. Kuseron rolled his eyes, pulling out a torch and lighting it. "C'mon." He muttered.

They made it to a large sewer, where a boat was waiting for him. "2 Gold pieces for a ride—" The man cut short, seeing the mask on his face. "Armadillo-wolf! Ah, sir, come right in." Everyone knew who the Armadillo-Wolf was down here. The thief that wasn't to be messed with. Everyone had learned it a long time ago when someone had dared to mess with his drink. Kuseron didn't drink Alcohol a lot, he stuck to tea and water. It had been one of those rare occasions. It had turned into a fight to the death. The Thug had been well known in the Undercity, and then a mere thief had taken the fool down. His reputation had become sinister after that night.

"These people are with me. Take us to Pao's place." He commanded. The ferryman nodded and they were setting off down the river of sludge quicker than they needed to go. The Undercity was populated sparsely. Kuseron sat on the edge of the boat, glaring at people as they passed on the boat. He put on his trademark scowl. The hovels that they passed, he would have to come back to. It was time to sell the stolen goods.

They arrived at a Hovel, that had a sign over the door, stating that it was: "Pao's exotic animals".

"My clients will wait here." He muttered to the ferryman, who nodded quickly.

Kuseron stepped into the shop, "Pao! Where are you?"

A man jumped up from behind the counter. An old, slimy grease ball he was. Pao smiled nervously at Kuseron. "O-Oh. Armadillo-o-o Wolf-f-f do-o you have something that I could buy off you?"

He walked forward, glaring through his mask at the man angrily. "No. I'm not here to buy anything either!" He slammed his fist down on the counter, face inches away from the old man's. "Tell me fast, have you heard any rumors of a flying bison?"

Pao shook his head. "I-I-I haven't heard of a flying bison!"

Kuseron narrowed his eyes, drawing back before he slammed a knife into the counter, inches away from Pao's hands. "Tell me what you or you won't live to see another day... I have a client who's willing to pay good gold for the information." He drew up, glaring up at the man with his scowl growing. It was all just a ruse. He wouldn't hurt Pao. The thug that had crossed him, well... He didn't actually remember how it had all happened, it was fuzzy.

Pao gulped before spewing the words out in a flash. "I've heard rumors of a flying bison! People say the Dai Li got it though before anyone could capture it!"

Kuseron took his knife and put it away, grunting. "Thank you Pao."

He headed back out and to the boat, jumping back in with a mixture of yelps and gasps. "Pao says he's heard of a flying bison, but the Dai Li got him first."

Kuseron directed the ferryman back to where they began and they left, getting back to the Inner ring in no time.

"So, I guess we'll start spreading papers? The Dai Li can't hide a flying bison so easily. Maybe someone saw him get moved." Kuse mused as Katara waterbended the sludge out of their soiled garments.

Aang was already gone, spreading papers over the city in flight and the rest of them, took off at a turtle's pace...

In the end, they just returned to the house.

Kuseron sighed and sat in one of the corners. Toph was quietly bouncing a ball against the wall. Sokka and Katara were playing tiles. They had to wait for Aang to get back. Chiel was lying on the ground, curled up by his feet, asleep. Kuseron summoned a ball of darkness and moved it between his hands, doing little tricks and such.

It was boring, but with a slam, Aang pushed open the door. "I just finished dropping all the leaflets. Has anyone come in with news about Appa?" Katara waved him off, "It's only been a day, be patient."

As soon as Aang sat down there was a knock on the door, which disrupted Kuseron's ball of darkness and sent Chiel into a fit of barking. "Wow, you're right. Patience really pays off!" Aang mused.

Kuseron had a few guesses on who it was. It was either Joo Dee or the Dai Li. Aang quickly opened the door, and Kuse only sneered. "Joo Dee?"

The woman stepped in, a smile on her face. "Hello Aang, and Katara and Sokka and Toph and—" Kuseron glared at her, "Screw you."

Sokka stepped forward, confusion on his face. "What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in Jail?"

"What? Jail?" Joo Dee scoffed. "The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."

Kuseron stood, walking over to the others. "Yeah and they're also corrupt."

Joo Dee ignored him and Toph spoke up, "But you disappeared at the Earth King's party."

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai."

Kuseron froze. Lake Laogai. That place... He knew it. There was nothing there. Nobody visited that place. He narrowed his eyes, scowling. "Out in the country, it was quite relaxing."

"But they also replaced you with a woman who said her name was Joo Dee." Katara muttered.

Joo Dee gave a slightly confused look, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm Joo Dee."

Aang looked at her with a small glare, "Why are you here?"

"Dropping flyers and posters in the city is not permitted. Not without proper clearance."

_She is the definition of weird. _Kuseron grumbled in thought and crossed his arms. "We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka muttered.

Joo Dee seemed to smile, but in anger. "You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to keep putting up posters."

Aang looked outraged, he stepped in and glared at the woman. "We don't care about the rules! AND we are NOT asking for permission!" He cried, flailing a bit.

Joo Dee shied away in surprise. "We are finding Appa on OUR own and YOU can just STAY out of our way!" Aang slammed the door in her face with enough force to shake the building. Kuseron lifted his brows in surprise.

"That might come back to bite us in the blubber..." Sokka said.

"That it will." Kuseron mused and chewed a bit on his lower lip.

"I don't care. From now on we'll do whatever it takes to find Appa." Aang hissed, still angry by the looks of it.

Toph gave a whoop, "Yeah! Let's break some rules!" She sent one side of the house's wall crumbling. Kuseron laughed. He broke the rules all the time. They all quickly filed out of the house, heading towards the city. Kuseron blinked, he felt as he was being watched... He looked across at the neighbor's house but saw nothing. Who was following them? Kuseron jogged forward to catch up with everyone else.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


	3. Jet

Kuseron huffed as he stuck a poster on the wall. He could be doing so much more than this right now.

He turned and watched Sokka place a poster on the wall. "We'll split up to cover more area." He commanded, like he was the leader of this group.

Sokka looked down at Toph, "Toph, I guess you should come with me."

Toph looked pissed when Sokka said that to her, only pushing off the wall and grabbing a poster out of his hands. "Why? Because you think I can't put posters up on my own?" She grabbed the glue and smeared some onto the wall. She then slammed the poster into the wall. She sighed, "It's upside down isn't it?" No. Actually it wasn't even the right way around.

Kuseron couldn't contain his laughter. Toph admitted her defeat. "I'll just go with Sokka."

He tagged along after Toph and Sokka.

Kuseron found himself being dragged along by Toph when she suddenly said, "Katara's in trouble!"

Kuse tried to struggle out of the blind girl's grasp, but she was strong! "Hey, Hey! I can walk on my own thank-you-very-much!" He grounded out. He was released when they arrived where Katara was. Sokka ran up first, "Katara! What's wrong?"

Katara was glaring at a kid, who was pinned to the wall by ice spikes and she stood slowly from her crouch. "Jet's back."

Kuseron leaned towards Toph, "Uh... Who's Jet?"

She shrugged. "I dunno."

Katara spoke again, throwing her hands out to the side. "We can't trust anything Jet says."

"But we don't even know why he's here!" Sokka protested.

"I don't care why he's here! Whatever the reason is, it can't be good!" Katara spat angrily, glaring at her brother.

Kuse smirked slowly, "Oh la la. She liked him." He whispered to Toph, who grinned in response. He could tell by her flustered response. Katara must have liked this guy once, so they all knew him.

"I'm here to help you find Appa!" Jet cried, letting a pamphlet unroll. It was the lost poster of Appa.

Katara crossed her arms as Aang spoke, "We have to give him a chance."

Jet spoke again, "I swear I've changed. I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control, but I don't even have the gang now!" Kuseron lifted a brow. He sounded a lot like... himself really. He used to have a gang, but he gave it up after he realized what he had been getting himself into and went into thievery, instead of hurting people as a thug. "I've put all of that behind me!" Jet finished, sincerely too.

"You're lying!" Katara cried.

Kuseron shook his head, he stepped forward, as well as Toph. She walked forward and pressed a hand to the wall. "He's not lying."

"Agreed." Kuseron lifted up his voice. He could tell Jet was speaking the truth. He's eyes weren't wide, his voice didn't waver. The boy didn't flinch when he spoke.

"How can you tell?" Sokka asked.

Toph stayed facing the wall. "I can tell by his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth." Toph turned around to face them.

"If he was lying, his words would be hesitant, eyes a little wide and he'd flinch every time when he'd go to speak." Kuseron muttered.

"Katara, he's our only other lead. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, then we have to check it out." Aang muttered. Katara stared at the avatar for a little before sighing, "Alright..." She trailed off. Aang smiled at the kid. Then, "But we are not letting you out of our sight." She narrowed her eyes pointedly and then turned away.

They let Jet go and they began to follow him. Kuseron walked beside Toph with a small smile playing on his lips. "So you can tell when others are lying?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It's part of being blind."

"It's a good trick, can help you when you really need it." Kuseron replied.

Toph smiled at this and they walked on in silence. They arrived at what kind of looked like a barn. Kuseron was surprised. Was this where they had been keeping the beast? "This is the place I heard about." Jet said.

Kuseron frowned slowly as Aang spoke. "There's nothing here."

Katara turned on Jet, glaring at him angrily and ready to strike with some waterbending. "If this is a trap—!" Jet turned to look at Katara. "I told you, I work nearby! Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had, I figured it must be Appa." He shrugged slightly.

Kuse sighed. _Lovely. We're on a day's old trail._

Toph cried out suddenly, "He was here!" They gathered around as Aang plucked some hair from Toph's hands. The boy frowned slowly. "We missed him."

Everyone jumped when an old man came out of nowhere, sweeping the floor. "They took that big thing yesterday, shipped him out to some island. 'Bout time, I've been cleaning up fur and various err— leavings all day." The man went back to sweeping.

"What island? Where's Appa?" Aang cried, zooming over to the old man. "Foreman said some rich, royal type on Whale Tail Island bought him up. Guess for a zoo or such, but it could be the meat could be good." The old man dabbed sweat off his forehead.

Sokka was looking on a map.

"We've got to get to Whale Tail Island!" Aang cried.

"Where's Whale Tail Island?" Aang asked.

Kuseron slammed his palm into his face, sighing. That was far away if he knew better. It was probably some trick. Or something more conspiracies-like. Sokka dropped his map. "Far. Very Far." He laid the map on the ground. "It's here." He pointed to it. "Near the south pole, almost near home."

Kuseron shook his head. This was a trick. It had to be. "Aang it'll take us weeks just to get to the tip of the Earth Kingdom." Katara looked at the bald-headed monk. "And then we'll need to find a boat to get us to the island."

Aang lifted his head. "I don't care, we have a chance to find Appa. We have to try..."

The Old man spoke again, "Must be nice to visit an island. I haven't had a vacation for years." He complained.

Katara stood, "Don't you have some more hair to clean up?"

The old man sighed, "Shuffle on, I get'cha. No more need for old sweepy."

Kuseron leaned against the wall. This was absurd. "You're right Aang. Our first concern right now is finding Appa. We can come back when we have him..."

Sokka stood, putting the map away in his bag. "You know that's a girls bag right?" Kuseron muttered.

They stopped to look at him. They knew he didn't speak unless he needed to. "Have you guys thought that maybe this is a setup?" Everyone exchanged glances before they shrugged, walking on. They did not have proper logic, especially if the Dai Li was involved in this mess.

"I'll come with you." Jet said, stepping forward.

Katara looked back at him. "We don't need your help."

"Why won't you let me help?" Jet demanded, but walked off.

Katara crossed her arms and stuck her nose into the air. "Gee, I wonder..."

Kuseron stood by Toph with a grin when she asked, "Was this guy your boyfriend or something?"

Katara blinked momentarily surprised. "What? No!" She cried and looked away from Toph.

_She's lying._ Kuseron mused in thought.

Toph grinned, "I can tell your lying." She said in a sing-songy voice.

Katara ran off, clearly embarrassed.

"Nice going." He muttered to Toph.

"Thanks." She replied and they walked off together, heading for town.

Sokka was being all Commando and stuff. He acted a lot like he led the gang, when really it should have been Aang. "We can take the train out until the wall, then we'll have to walk."

"Don't worry, on the way back. We'll be flying." Aang said gleefully.

Kuseron stopped when Toph almost swung her hand into his face. "We're finally leaving Ba Sing Se. Worst. city. ever!" She cried.

He was a bit hesitant to leave. This was his home. He knew all about Ba Sing Se, not anywhere else... "Right yeah." He muttered, a bit sad. Kuseron couldn't leave with them. This was... Ba Sing Se was everything he knew. They began to walk more until a voice cried out, "Jet!"

Everyone turned. "I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore." Katara spoke accusingly.

"I don't!" Jet cried, but was forcefully hugged by the girl who had called out his name. "We were so worried. How did you get away from the Dai Li?"

_Oh Boy..._ Kuseron thought, staring between the two.

Katara looked stricken, "The Dai Li?"

Jet stepped back in surprise. "I don't know what she's talking about!"

"We saw him get arrested by the Dai Li, a couple weeks ago! We saw him get dragged away!" The girl said quickly, looking between everyone.

"Why would I be arrested? I've been living peacefully in the city!"

He seemed to be speaking the truth, but so did the girl.

Toph was standing between the two, a hand placed on the ground. She seemed to be having trouble as well. They were both telling the truth, but then... Who was lying? Kuseron frowned in aggravation, Chiel poking his head out of the bag. "This doesn't make any sense, they're both telling the truth."

Kuseron nodded when everyone shifted his or her gazes to him. "They both speak truth."

"That's impossible." Katara muttered.

"No it's not!" Sokka cried. "Toph and Kuseron can't tell who's lying because they both think they're telling the truth! Jet's been brainwashed!"

Jet looked flabbergasted. "That's crazy! It can't be!" He backed away a bit. "Stay away from me!"

Kuseron helped contain Jet before they dragged him off to Smellerbee and Longshot's apartment. "The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us and that Janitor was apart of their plot too!" Kuseron mentally sighed at this, hanging out of the window. Couldn't they just get to the point already? He flipped back up, sitting on the ledge with a frown. "Just get on with it."

"Appa must be here in the city!"

Kuseron groaned. "I told you the Dai Li had him." Why did nobody listen to him?

Aang ignored him. "Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet!"

Kuseron shook his head and Toph came over to the window, leaning against the wall whilst they tried to get information out of Jet. They finally seemed to be getting results when Jet said, "They took me to their headquarters, underwater, Like a uh... Lake." He said slowly, looking as if he was hurting.

"Wait, remember what Joo Dee said that she went on vacation at Lake Laogai!" Sokka said quickly.

_Genius._ Kuseron grumbled.

Jet pushed up off the chair. "That's it! Lake Laogai!"

Toph nudged him slightly as they began to go 'find' Lake Laogai. "I know how you feel to be ignored."

Kuse looked down at her, eyes as sharp as flint, but he knew she couldn't see his expression. "I just wished people would listen to me more often. It's hard to go around and say something that's complete right and people take it as their idea."

Toph frowned slightly. "I grew up in a family that thought I was too fragile to be treated like a real person."

Kuseron blinked. "Really? I'm sorry then... I don't, I didn't have a family growing up."

Toph shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore, I'm away from that now, so I put it behind me."

Kuseron smiled slightly. She was wiser than she looked, they both needed help. She was probably just as smart as he was. Saw things differently, since she was blind. "You're good, ya know that right?" He muttered.

Toph turned her head away, trying to hide the blush that he had seen form on her face. "Thanks." She replied.

They retired after looking for a while, crashing back at the house until morning. Except, again... He had not slept. Instead, he was busy meditating. Like usual.

* * *

He groaned when they found the place... This was ridiculous. It was. Couldn't they find a sneakier way to get into Lake Laogai? This went against thief rules, but Spirits! He was not with thieves! Sokka was staring out across the water with an obvious itch for a fight.

"So where's their headquarters?" He asked, looking at Jet.

_Sokka is an idiot._ Kuseron declared in his head.

Jet had stated earlier that it was Underwater. Did Sokka forget that? "It's underwater, I think." Jet muttered, rubbing his head.

Toph pointed a little away. "There's a tunnel near the shore over there." She whistled as she walked towards the water, before getting into the typical Earthbender stance and jumping up into place, throwing her hands forward in form of fists. A pathway slowly appeared and Kuseron grunted. That wasn't so secret now.

He followed after Toph first, leaning back as he walked, kind of relaxed now that he was here. She quickly Earthbended the lid off and he looked in, staring at the ladder before dropping in, the fall was quick but long. He bended the darkness to form a cushion underneath him.

Everyone came down after him and he rolled into the tunnel, pulling shadows around him as two Dai Li agents walked across the place. Kuseron let Chiel out of his bag, holding out the fur that was supposed to be Appa's. Chiel sniffed at it before running off, Momo flew after the Armadillo wolf. "C'mon!" He motioned to them.

Jet walked ahead, "It's all starting to come back to me."

They walked forward through the place. Some guy was brainwashing a bunch of woman to think they were called Joo Dee... Kuseron cringed slightly as he pasted. He knew all about this brainwashing activity, but... This was horrible, sickening. It made him feel a ball of burning hatred in his stomach.

Jet spoke softly, "I think there should be a cell big enough to hold Appa ahead."

Kuseron entered first, using the shadows to keep himself hidden. It felt like a trap. As long as he was down and hidden, he was good. Lights flickered on overheard, making him obvious in the room. He let the shadows go, looking up as everyone else did. "That's something knew." Sokka muttered.

"You have made yourselves enemies of the state. Take them into custody..." Long Feng muttered, disappearing into the crowd of Dai Li agents.

Kuseron drew his left hand out as a few Dai Li agents landed, sending them flying back with the shadows. He spun out of the way of two stone hands and threw up a shield-wall around himself. He flipped away and threw his hand up, a ball of darkness formed in his hand and he threw it forward. The ball grew bigger as it went along. Longshot and Smellerbee looked at him as their opponents were knocked out. He spun around, kicking into the air as two Dai Li tried to come at him from behind.

He threw his hand up, fingers wrapping around a staff that formed slowly into a scythe. Kuseron swung it forward, a blast of darkness followed it and he ran forward, clashing with a Dai Li agent that had swords. He spun around, kicking the man in the stomach and then slamming him in the face with the blunt end of his scythe.

He turned around, ready to face off against another agent, but Toph slammed the two, that were coming at him, away. Kuse blinked, she was an Earthbender... He watched her take down four of them before being taken from behind by a Dai Li agent with a stone hand. He flew forward, using his scythe to break the hand. He grabbed Toph around the waist, landed on the ground behind Longshot, who shot an arrow at a stone foot. Jet leapt over Longshot, using his hook swords to break some stone hands and feet that were sent their way.

"Are you alright?" He looked down at Toph, who he set down quickly.

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

They went back to back. Kuseron could see Jet and Aang run off after Long Feng, who was escaping. He was tempted to go after the man himself, but he instead went to fighting the Dai Li, putting his anger to the front of his dark attacks.

The fight was ended quickly. Kuse swung his scythe around, a large blast of darkness knocking a few Dai Li into the earthen walls around them.

"We need to find Aang!" Katara cried. They ran into the hallway that Jet and Aang had disappeared down. Toph took the lead, "In here!" She bended the wall, that stood in their way, down.

They all ran in quickly. It wasn't a good sight. Jet was hurt, badly...

Katara went to try and heal Jet.

"This isn't good." She muttered, looking back up at everyone. Kuse frowned. Long Feng was a formidable opponent. He had not faced the man before, but from what he had heard, Feng was strong. "You guys go and find Appa. We'll take care of Jet." Smellerbee whispered.

"We aren't going to leave you." Katara objected.

Longshot spoke next. "There is no time, just go. We'll take care of Jet, he's our leader after all."

Kuseron didn't understand why everyone else was so surprised. Longshot was silent, so what?

"Don't worry Katara. I'll be fine." Jet whispered. Kuse could tell that Jet was lying but didn't voice it. Kuseron bent down beside Jet. "You are a fine warrior Jet. May the Spirits lead you to peace..." He murmured. The swordsman smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Kuseron pulled on his hood and his mask, standing and walking away after the others. He could hear Toph mutter, "He's lying..."

They found their way to the room where Appa was supposed to be, but when they arrived at the room. The flying bison was gone...

"Appa's gone." Aang muttered. "Long Feng beat us here."

"Maybe if we move quick enough, we can catch up with them." Sokka cried. They turned and ran back to the surface.

When they reached the surface it was another fight.

Dai Li agents were following them, Sokka looked at Aang. "Do you think we can out run them?"

"I don't think it'll matter!" Aang replied.

Kuseron watched Chiel pop out of nowhere, leaping onto his head in a quick bound. "Good boy Chiel..." He mused and kept running, until a wall appeared in their path. He had no real shadows to control. Except for his shadow... He was ready to fight, but he saw a flying bison. An actual flying bison.

"Appa!" Aang cried.

Appa crashed through the two walls that blocked their paths. Aang and Toph made the Dai Li on the canyon wall fly into the water. Appa landed on the ground in front of Long Feng, who taunted the bison. It was over just like that when Appa threw Long Feng into the water.

Long Feng was skipping across the water like a stone.

He walked slowly towards the beast as everyone else ran. Aang jumped into the furry beast, "I missed you buddy." He murmured.

Kuseron smiled at Appa after they finished hugging the bison. "Hello Appa. I'm new." He tipped his head slightly to the beast. Appa sniffed him before drawing his tongue over him. Kuse staggered back, blinking. "That's a new welcome..." He mused.

The beast did not have a saddle. Kuseron though, was amazed. The flight was amazing... Everyone hugged when they were halfway to the Earth King's palace. They all looked at him expectantly. "Uh... I'm not the one for hugging." He muttered. Toph grabbed blindly at his red hood and pulled him forward into the hug. Kuseron huffed silently. _Why me?_


	4. The Earth King

Kuseron grumbled incoherently under his breath. They were on a freaking island, in the middle of some random lake. In the middle of freaking nowhere! The Shadowbender huffed and stood, throwing his hands into the air. "Please tell me we are leaving this Spirit forsaken island!" He cried.

Aang looked at him, "Well, we have to decide if we are going anywhere first..."

He rubbed both his hands down his face, groaning. _Why me? WHY?_

Katara, Toph and Sokka were talking plans. He moseyed on over, listening to them talk. "—you think we'll get it? If you haven't noticed things don't always go so smoothly with our Gang." Toph grumbled half-heartedly.

Sokka was looking at her with his shoulder hunched forward. "I know, but I got a good feeling about this. This time will be different." The Water tribe boy smiled a bit.

Katara though, had a good point. "Sokka, Long Feng has control of the city. His conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful," She pointed back at Ba Sing Se. "I just think we should leave this horrible place behind."

Toph spoke up again, "I'm with sweetness. I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se..." She trailed off, throwing her hands into the air. "And I can't even see!"

Kuse stepped into the conversation. "I hate to disrupt, but if you guys aren't going back to Ba Sing Se, can you at least do me a favor and drop me off there, or at least at the gates?" Katara, Sokka and Toph turned their attention to him. They seemed confused. They really didn't expect him to stay, did they? Sure, he had fun, but... This wasn't his life. His life was in Ba Sing Se.

"You're not staying?" Toph asked, frowning at this. Kuseron shifted, shuffling his feet and kicking up a small cloud of dust. He didn't want to say that he wasn't, he really didn't. He knew little about everyone and well, even if he knew little about Toph... He _liked_ her.

"I don't know. Ba Sing Se is like home to me." He replied, staring at the ground.

Aang flew over, landing beside him. "It's alright if you can't stay Kuseron," He turned to the others. "But now that we have Appa back, there is nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth about the conspiracy and the war." The Avatar was siding with Sokka on this matter.

Kuseron shook his head when they looked at him. "This is your matter, not mine."

Sokka smiled slowly, placing an arm around the monk's shoulder. "See? Aang's with me." He stepped away from his friend. "It's the whole reason we came here in the first place, we have to try."

Katara grew thoughtful here. She frowned a bit, but spoke. "Well, I guess if the Earth King knew... things would change."

Toph stood up slowly, "I don't trust the new positive Sokka..." She trailed off, pointing at him. "Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he?" She accused, her eyes narrowing.

Kuseron chuckled a bit. This was petty, but quite hilarious. Sokka looked out across the water, running up close to shore. "That's probably the Dai Li searching for us!" He looked at his sister. There were boats gliding across the water. Katara thought quickly before nodding, "Let's fly!"

Everyone hopped onto Appa quickly, except him. They looked at him in anticipation. "Aren't you coming?" Katara asked.

_What am I to chose? _Did he want to go with them? What would be the consequences of this whole matter in the end? "I..." He gasped as he flew up onto Appa, "We have no time!" Aang said quickly. The Shadowbender reluctantly sighed.

"Drop me off at the wall!" He cried. They looked at him, frowns. Frowns everywhere... Kuseron shook his head. "I can't do this. If Long Feng wins in the end, you'll be thrown in Jail or expelled from the city. If _I _get caught, I'll be imprisoned, then hung!"

Aang nodded quickly, "Appa! Yip Yip!" They took off into the air.

Kuse held on for dear life, this bison could move! He was faster than he had originally thought! Toph screamed into the air, "Can we _please_ buy a new saddle? Riding bareback is terrifying!" She buried her face into the creature's pelt. He managed to scale over to Toph, placing an arm around her waist.

"You'll be alright." He said as loud as he could without letting the others hear. Toph lifted her head slightly, looking the wrong way but nonetheless, he could see her color a bit. Chiel bayed into the air, clearly enjoying the ride.

"There it is. That's the whole palace right there. The King's chamber must be in the center." Sokka said over the deafening roar of air in their ears. Appa though, landed on the wall. Kuseron stood on Appa, leaping off and looking at them. They gave him sad smiles. "I'm sorry guys. It's been fun, but I can't do this." He muttered, looking at the ground.

Katara spoke first. "It was fun while it lasted." She waved slightly.

Sokka tipped his head to him, "You're a good fighter, sad to see ya go man."

Aang waved to him. "Have a good life Kuseron."

Toph looked in his direction, but said nothing to him. She had anger written in her blind eyes and she seemed a bit, worse off than the rest. He saluted them. "You guys... Ya know, save the world." He replied.

Kuse turned away beginning to walk away.

_What are you doing? You've always been asking to have more action in your life! This is it!_

_Don't go with them Kuseron. You'll get into deep trouble, then who's going to bail you out?_

_You idiot! This is your chance! Embrace your destiny!_

Internal wars were being waged, he turned his head and slipped on his mask and hood. He couldn't abandon them. His better side had won. Kuseron flipped off the wall as Appa began to take off, throwing his hands to his side to give an extra boost with his shadow. He landed beside Aang, who gave a startled gasp. "If anyone in the Undercity gets word of this, I will personally make sure the Fire Nation wins the war." He hissed.

"We welcome the help." Aang said.

They returned to their conversation earlier about the King's Palace. "We have to be careful, Long Feng has probably already warned the King that we are coming." Katara said quickly.

"Why would you say that?" Sokka mused. "If you ask me, I think we'll sail in right unnoticed—" He broke off in a yell of surprise.

_Way to go, Mr. Positive._ Kuseron didn't believe in jinxes, but what Sokka just did, was really a jinx.

Appa quickly dodged out of the way of a boulder. "What was that?" Toph wailed into the air.

Kuseron slid backwards, coming to hold on again by her, his hand wrapping firmly around her waist. Truth be told, he kind of liked this, but... _I'm also doing this to make sure she doesn't get hurt._ He chided himself calmly.

Sokka lifted his head a bit. "They're surface rocks! More incoming!" He broke off in another yell.

Appa dodged three of them before Aang seemingly broke one in midair. Kuseron made sure he was gripping onto Appa tightly and Toph was still secure. Aang used his staff to cut one boulder in half, intent on landing. The avatar flew off his bison, landing on the ground with a forceful impact. Earth Kingdom soldiers flew into the air as the ground underneath them shifted and sent them flying. Appa had landed and was now walking forward towards the General on his ostrich horse, letting out a thunderous growl that made the ostrich horse back up and made the General fall of his mount. The ostrich horse ran off quickly.

He hopped off when everyone else did, running forward alongside them. Toph and Aang went to blocking Earth that flew at the from Soldiers. Kuseron moved his left hand diagonally towards the ground and brought it up. His Shadow becoming his own puppet. He ducked under a brick, thrusting his right hand forward and watched his shadow puppet knock down a few soldiers. He swiped his hands down in an 'x'. His puppet zoomed forward, the earth bricks flying threw it without doing any damage. This was just a Shadow after all. He followed everyone as they moved along, Katara took down soldiers with her water whip.

"Sorry!" She said to some of the as they yelped in shock and agony.

Katara flinched when she hit them. Kuseron rolled his eyes and darted forward, his shadow followed him immediately. He jumped into the air and landed on the ground, swiping his hands to his sides. A small platoon of soldiers fell and he stood, angling his hands in a certain way to almost look as if he was summoning a ball of darkness, but instead he muttered. "Puppet thrust." The darkness flew forward. He had no shadow at the moment. Soldiers fell promptly and his shadow returned to his side. Toph speedily Earthbended to where the soldiers that were running across these large tiles were half crushed by the giant tiles. He floated over them on his shadow, keeping his mind ahead. "Sorry, we just need to get through to see the Earth King!" Katara tried to apologize to them.

_Shut up._ He thought hastily to himself, eyes widening when he saw the soldiers earthbend two large statues at them. Kuseron heard Chiel whimper and he dodged out of the way of the statues, his shadow giving way under him but thankfully he landed on Appa's back. Thankfully.

He watched Katara swiftly clear out the soldiers by the small bridge. Aang froze the water to where the soldiers couldn't move. The girl was smart, graceful in her movements, but he liked head-on girls. Namely Toph... But he was not going to say that to anyone, nor was he going to admit it.

Kuseron looked up as they got to the stairs. That was a whole new challenge to conquer. What were they going to do? Toph stepped forward, dramatically waiting a few moments as she raised her hands into the air. What was her plan? Toph drew back into the horse stance, bringing her hands into fists. He lifted his blood red eyes, watching as the stairs turned to flat nothingness under the soldiers. She and Aang then began to bend the earth beneath them, making an Earth elevator.

_Nice..._ He hummed in his head. He landed down beside Sokka, who shouted at the soldiers. "Seriously, we are actually on your guy's side!" Sokka looked off to his left, muttering. "Sorry."

Kuseron grinned. Aang and Toph pushed away a few soldiers with earth as they tried to come up on their sides. "In there!" Sokka cried.

They ran forward into the Palace, coming to a room that separated into three different halls. Guards ran in to confront them, but Toph sent them into the air, pinning them to the ceiling with large rock pillars. "Toph! Which way to the Earth King?" Sokka asked. The Girl kept her focus on the soldiers. "How should I know? I'm still voting we leave Ba Sing se!" She kept the guards busy, while Sokka, Katara and Aang looked around in the nearest rooms.

Kuseron helped quietly to block any rocks thrown at Toph, manipulating the shadows into doing his will. He heard some woman scream, "Burglar!" and Sokka replied, "Sorry! Wrong door!"

They ended up bringing down a few walls and messing up hallways, but in the end, they found the door.

Sokka proclaimed it to all mankind... "Now that's an impressive door! It's got to go somewhere." He took off over the rubble pile.

Kuse huffed. "Cue the angelic music."

Sokka ran full sprint at the door, and leapt into the air, trying to kick it open, but he only fell to the ground... Epically. He then tried to push the door open. Toph and Aang jumped forward, earthbending the door down. Sokka flew forward, face first into the King's throne room. He ran in as everyone else did, Sokka decided to complain at that point in time. "A little warning next time?" He rubbed his head and stood.

They stood in a line, coming to face the Earth King. Kuseron pulled shadows around him, ready for the fight that would come.

Aang spoke, diplomatically of course. "We need to talk to you."

Long Feng turned to the Earth King. "They're here to overthrow you."

Sokka spoke up next, "No, we're on your side. We're here to help."

"You have to trust us!" Katara said.

The Earth King stood, "You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, break down my fancy door and you expect me to trust you?" He yelled furiously.

Kuseron frowned a bit. "His earthliness has a point. We did kind of act like we were here to overthrow him..."

Katara turned her heard, glaring silently at him. "Not helping."

Although, Toph agreed with him. "He _does_ have a good point."

"If you are on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down." The Earth King commanded. Kuse had already dropped his darkness. He did not want to be thrown in jail. It may be a good time to run. _A very good time._ Before he was thrown away to rot. Slowly, the gang stood down. "See? We're friends, your earthiness." Kuseron almost strangled Aang.

The Shadowbender was ready for the stone hands but he let them catch him. He didn't like it, not at all... He just hoped that the Avatar had something up his sleeve. Long Feng smirked, "Detain the assailants." Spirits... This was the end for him. He was going to be hung, and he would be dead. Lifeless. Gone. Dai Li agents zoomed forward on their stone feet, taking up positions behind them. "But we dropped our weapons. We're your allies." Sokka muttered.

Long Feng made a mistake when he spoke. "Make sure the Avatar and his friends never see daylight again."

The Earth King questioned, "The Avatar? You're the Avatar?" He pointed at Sokka, who responded. "Uh, no. Him." He pointed at Aang but the Earth King's gaze fell on him.

Kuseron shook his head. "Sorry to confuse you, your majesty. Another over." He mused.

Aang smiled. "Over here!" He bended the rock on his hands, to where he could outstretch his arms before putting it back into place.

Long Feng was not giving in yet. "What does it matter your highness? They are enemies of the state." Him and his honey-slick words.

The Earth King looked away from Aang. "Perhaps you're right."

Bosco came trudging over, sniffing at Aang before he licked him. The Avatar laughed lightly. The King smiled a bit, "Although, Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say."

Aang walked forward. "Well, sir. There's a war going on right now. For the past one hundred years in fact. The Dai Li has kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to control the city and to control you." Aang said calmly to the King.

The King blinked in surprise. "A secret war? That's crazy."

Long Feng glared at the Avatar. "Completely."

"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you, so he stole our sky bison to blackmail us and blackmail is the least of his crimes! He brainwashed our friend." Aang kept calm while he spoke.

Long Feng turned to the King. "All lies, I've never even seen a sky bison, your majesty. Frankly, I thought they were extinct."

The Earth King slowly sat down on his throne, frowning. "Your claim is difficult to believe. Even from an Avatar."

Long Feng walked over to the Earth King, speaking into the man's ear. The King spoke up. "I have to trust my advisor."

The Dai Li agents swooped in on them, Kuseron struggled for a moment in their grasp but Sokka shouted, "Wait! I can prove he's lying. Long Feng says he's never seen a sky bison. Ask him to lift his robe."

Long Feng looked a bit nervous, but hid it well in his outrage. "What? I am not disrobing!"

Aang inhaled sharply before exhaling. Long Feng's robes billowed up and Aang shouted. "Right there! Appa bit him!"

Sokka grinned. "Never met a sky bison, huh?"

Long Feng huffed as he pressed his robe back down. "That happens to be a large birthmark. Thanks for showing everyone..." He looked at them disgruntled.

The Earth King looked confused. "Well I suppose there is no way in proving where it came from."

Sokka was positive, maybe a little too positive. "Of course there is!"

The next thing that Kuseron knew was that Appa was in the throne room, showing off his large teeth to the King. _You have got to be kidding me..._ Aang pointed to Appa's teeth and then to Long Feng's leg. The Earth king nodded slowly. "Yep. That pretty much proves it."

Everyone was suddenly cheering, except him. He knew what was coming next... "But it doesn't explain this crazy conspiracy theory." The gang all moaned in displeasure. Kuseron shrugged slowly.

"Although... I suppose this matter is worth looking into." The King mused.

Everyone was a bit hesitant but they muttered things happily. Kuseron could tell that Long Feng was clearly pissed off, he walked away sulking.

* * *

Kuseron later found himself on a train. The Earth King was curious albeit, he was going nowhere. "So this is what a train is like?" Everyone was staring at them. "I didn't realize it would be... this public."

Katara spoke up. "So you've never been outside the Upper ring before?"

The Earth King shrugged a shoulder. "I've never been out of the palace." He pointed outside, at Aang and Appa. "Now that's the way to travel."

"So. May I ask where we are going?"

Kuseron shook his head and pulled his hood up. They shouldn't be heading for Lake Laogai. There would be nothing left there... The Dai Li were smart, not idiotic like the guards.

Sokka replied, "Underneath Lake Laogai, your kingliness. To the Dai Li secret headquarters, you're about to see where all the brainwashing and conspiracy took place."

When they arrived at their destination. It wasn't good news.

"There isn't going to be anything here..." He whistled, shaking his head as everyone ignored him. Again.

Toph walked forward, ready to earthbend the entrance up. She pulled the entrance up, before speaking. "It's gone."

Sokka put his hands to his face. "Aw. Don't tell me—" He stopped mid-sentence. "That's ok. Still got my positive attitude."

_Yay. _Kuseron thought, shaking his head. "You guys should listen to me more often." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

Katara spoke. "The Dai Li must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence."

They were now losing the King's support. "Hm. That seems awfully convenient."

Sokka tried to win back the King. "Hey, if anything this should at least prove that the conspiracy existed even more."

The Earth shook his head, "Long Feng was right. This _was_ a waste of time."

The Shadowbender clicked his tongue. "Shucks."

"If you'll excuse me. I'm going back to the palace." The King began to walk away.

Katara turned to Sokka. "The wall! They'll never be able to cover that up in time!"

"Oh yeah." Aang jumped over in front of the King. "If you come with us to the Outer wall, we can prove to you that the secret war is real."

Kuseron narrowed his blood red eyes. What were they talking about? What was out by the outer wall? Did something happen?

"No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall." His earthliness muttered.

_There's always a first._ Kuseron mused in thought, kicking a stone across the ground. What was out there? Had he really missed something since he had left to the Inner ring?

"I don't have anymore time for this nonsense." The Earth king walked past Aang. Sokka ran forward after the king. "If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa."

Ah... bribery. So many good things could come out of it. Kuseron was holding on by Toph, while the Earth King screamed his lungs out. He had his arm wrapped around Toph's waist. Who still was gripping blindly into the fur of the beast. She still did not like flying.

"First time flying?" Toph grumbled.

The Earth King looked at her. "It's both terrifying and thrilling!"

"Yeah. I hate it too." Toph grumbled, she buried her face back into Appa's fur. Kuseron smirked a bit. "You got nothing to worry about." He muttered in her ear. Toph jabbed him sharply in the ribs. He didn't flinch. "Seriously?" He asked. She didn't respond to him.

"I have to be honest with you, a part of me really hopes what you are telling me about this war, isn't true." The Earth King piped up.

Aang agreed with him. "I wish it wasn't."

When they reached the wall, Aang cried joyfully. "It's still there!"

"What is that?" His earthliness asked, looking astonished at the drill.

Spirits, he was amazed too. What was that thing? And why was it sticking into the outer ring wall?

Sokka spoke, explaining everything. Or so Kuse hoped. "It's a drill. A drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls."

They landed on the wall above the drill and stared down at the mechanism. It was so huge! Kuseron was amazed it hadn't broke through into the outer ring!

The Earth King looked miserable as he stared down at the Fire Nation drill. "I can't believe I never knew."

Kuseron turned, looking at Long Feng as he appeared with two agents by his side. "I can explain this your majesty."

_Oh really now. _Kuseron lifted a brow at him, listening to his oh-so-perfect excuse.

"This is nothing more than a construction project." Feng mused.

Katara stepped forward. "Then perhaps you can explain why there is a Fire Nation insignia on your construction project."

"Well it's imported of course. You know you can't trust domesticated machinery." Long Feng was growing nervous. "Surely you don't believe these children instead of me, your most loyal attendant."

There was a long pause as the Earth King thought, his gaze flickering repeatedly from Long Feng to the rest of them.

He finally decided, "Dai Li, arrest Long Feng. I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."

Everyone was surprised. The Dai Li agents quickly put the man in chains. Long Feng protested, "You can't arrest me. You all need me more than you know!" He was dragged away quickly.

"Looks like Long Feng is Long GONE!" Sokka jeered.

They were taken back to the palace. Kuseron had done so much walking, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to stand. He was literally about to pass out...

"I can't thank you enough young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time when I thought, this was a great metropolis it was merely a city of fools." Bosco grumbled a bit in his own bear way. "We're at war, with the Fire nation..."

Sokka stepped forward. "That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, your highness. Because we think you can help us end the war."

"We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer and its energy will give the Firebenders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable." Aang continued on.

"But there is hope. Before the comet comes, we have a window of opportunity, a solar eclipse is coming. The sun will be entirely blocked out by the moon, and the firebenders will be helpless." Sokka muttered.

"What are you suggesting Sokka?" The King inquired.

"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation." He paused. "The Day of Black sun."

The King looked at the ground. "I don't know. That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se, we'd be completely vulnerable."

Sokka shook his head. "You're already vulnerable. The Fire nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls, you can either sit back and wait for that to happen or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance."

The King looked away, thinking to himself before he nodded in agreement. "Very well. You have my support."

Kuseron smirked as everyone danced a bit, happy that they now were on the King's side. They were good. They had it all good...

"Your majesty..." Another man spoke, a General by the looks of it as he walked forward. "I apologize for the interruption."

The King explain who he was. "This is General How. He is the leader of the council of five. My highest ranking Generals..."

How spoke. "We searched Long Feng's office, I think we have found something that will interest everybody."

They moved onto the library, where General How went to explain. "There are secret files on everyone in the city." He looked at Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka. "Including you four."

Kuseron lifted his head, "What about me?"

How shook his head. "There was nothing on anybody named Kuseron in the files."

Everyone looked at him expecting anger or sorrow, but he only smirked. "I'm too good for them."

"Secret files?" Aang asked as the Earth King pulled out scrolls from a box.

"Toph Beifong." He held out a scroll to Toph, who handed it to Katara. She read it quickly. "It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city and she wants to see you!"

Toph looked surprised. "Long Feng intercepted out letters from home?" She shook her head. "That's just sad."

"Aang." The Earth King handed the avatar a scroll. General How muttered, "This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it."

Aang smiled a bit. "It's a letter from the Eastern Air temple."

Katara and Sokka looked at one another before they turned to look at the Earth King. "Is there perhaps a letter for us by any chance?" Katara asked.

The Earth King frowned. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh..." Sokka muttered.

General How brought their spirits back up. "But there is an intelligence report that might interest you."

Katara took the scroll and unrolled it, "A Small fleet of water tribe ships?"

Sokka leaned in. "What? That could be Dad!"

"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon bay, led by Hakoda? It is dad!" They hugged each other in their joy.

Kuseron smirked. Everyone was happy. This was nice...

Afterwards, they all sat down in the Library, talking between one another. Kuseron ignored them, quietly trying to rest a bit before he actually did pass out. There was something about some Guru, and a blowfish, and a Spiritual guy and Avatar state... _Blah._ He was hardly listening. "This is all such big news!" Sokka mused.

Kuseron cracked open an eyelid, everyone was looking at him now. "What?" He muttered, scratching Chiel behind the ears.

"Are you going to do anything special?" Katara asked. "Or have anyone special?"

Kuse shook his head. "Nah. I don't have anyone..." He didn't look at them. There was silence. He was not going to speak of his past, he never wanted to relive it. He didn't want to know anything. It was all so fuzzy. Everything.

Sokka tried to bring the happiness back. "Where do we all start?"

"I hate to say it but, we have to split up." Katara muttered.

Kuseron tuned them out again, grumbling under his breath about the stupidity of this situation.

They had all decided on what they were going to do, Sokka was going to head off with Aang and Appa to only be dropped off at Chameleon bay. Toph was going to go see her mother. Aang was going to go master the Avatar state and Katara was staying here, to help the King.

Kuseron? He was going to help Katara. She had come to ask him to help her in planning in the invasion, but tomorrow... He was going to walk with Toph first.


	5. The Earth Kingdom falls

Next morning it was the horrible, long goodbye sappy stuff. Kuseron hung back. He wasn't officially apart of the gang, but he was pulled into the hug anyways. "Really? Really guys? I'm not going to stick around for long ya know..." He grumbled lackadaisically. Sokka was trying to get out of the hug, just as much as he was.

They watched Sokka and Aang fly away on Appa before beginning to separate. Kuseron jogged after Toph. "Hey Toph. I was hoping I could tag along with you." He muttered, rubbing the back of his head. Toph looked up in his direction. She quietly walked forward a bit, leaving him to stand there. "Aren't you coming?" She called back. The Shadowbender smiled slightly, walking forward to catch up with her.

They walked together in silence for a little until Toph asked, "Why did you want to walk with me?" Kuseron felt heat run up the back of his neck as he reddened. Did she know he liked her? _Spirits please, let her not know._ He huffed, "I don't have anything better to do." He replied calmly. Toph raised a brow. She seemed hesitant. "Are you lying?" Kuseron smirked slightly. She couldn't tell. He was trained at the art of Lying. "No. I'm not."

The girl sighed. Silence descended again but he wanted to talk to her, so he asked. "Are you happy?" They stopped on a bridge. Toph opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but he continued on. "I mean are you happy that you're Mother understands you?"

Toph leaned against the railing, staring sightlessly at the river below. "I guess. I mean it's great that my Mom has finally come to realize that this is who I am..." Kuseron leaned beside her, facing the other way. He could understand, even if he hadn't had a real family. "She's finally excepting me. I just wish my dad would as well." He lifted his head, looking at her.

"Your dad doesn't like that you're an Earthbender?" He asked a bit hesitantly. Toph faced him with a frown. She looked like she was going to cry... "No, my father doesn't understand who I really am. He wants me to be the fragile young girl that he _thinks_ he knows."

Kuseron placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't have a family when I was growing up, but I want to let you know," He stopped, a small smile forming on his lips. "_I_ like you the way you are and you're father? He just doesn't get it..." Toph looked up at him blindly, her eyes were beginning to water and tears began to stream down her face. _Oh Spirits! Did I...?_ Toph hugged him tightly, crying into his chest. Kuse blinked and Chiel barked, but in the end, he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry Toph, if I said something wrong." He muttered albeit a bit hesitant.

The blind girl lifted her head away from his chest, "No. No." She shook her head. "Thank you Kuseron."

The Shadowbender watched silently as she wiped the tears away. "Come on. Let's keep moving." He murmured.

Toph nodded and they walked on. The house was in the Upper Ring, and only Toph knew where it was. He was just following along.

"So Kuseron, did you grow up in Ba Sing Se?" Toph asked.

"Yes. I've lived in Ba Sing Se for most of my life. I haven't been anywhere else in the Earth Kingdom, and I guess it's a good thing I haven't..." He trailed off. "Since the war and all."

Toph nodded as she walked along. "I see. No family?'

He shook his head. "Nah. I grew up among thieves and thugs. They taught me how to fight and steal, in return I brought them money."

She stopped, "Really?"

Kuseron sighed. "Yeah. I mean I got away from the thug life, but I have no other life and no way of making money, so I stuck with thieving."

Toph looked towards him. "So you don't have parents? Relatives?"

Kuse kicked a pebble. "No. None..."

They walked along again. Toph had gone into a stony silence and he was just as equally silent. Kuseron had not family... There was no point in talking about his past he hardly had one. Toph stopped when they arrived at a house that had a small bridge that led across it. "This is it, I guess?" He asked. Toph nodded stiffly.

He chuckled a bit. "Hey, don't worry about it. Your mother will understand..."

Toph began to walk across the bridge before she stopped, walking back to him and looking up at him. He was only slightly taller than her... She lifted her hand and balled it into a fist, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow." He took a step back. "What was that for?"

She smirked. "It's how I show affection." Kuseron rubbed his shoulder and laughed again.

"Also, Kuseron?"

"Yeah?"

"Aang and the rest of us, they wanted to know if you would join us. We were going to ask you yesterday night, but you had passed out..."

"I guess I'll think about it. Don't keep your mom waiting Toph."

Kuseron smiled as she turned back around, walking to the door. She hesitated. "I'll wait for you!" He called to her.

Toph looked back at him, smiling slightly before she knocked on the door. She slowly went in and he heard her call in, "Hello?"

"Mom?" Kuseron turned away from the house, walking away from the house. She'd be fine. He'd go find a market to buy stuff from...

"Anyone home?" The Shadowbender stopped. It sounded like Toph's mother wasn't in there. He turned around, running towards the house and across the bridge. He heard Toph scream and a vociferous crash. "Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with?" She cried. Kuse peered in silently, watching two earthbenders hit the ground. Where was she? He glared in at the metal containment unit. "One loud mouth little brat who strayed to far from home..." One man grounded out. He had short-cropped black hair, and a face that clearly said he was a fighter. The other man looked more like a teacher.

Kuseron narrowed his eyes. "Now we just have to get her back to her Father." The dark man muttered.

"Someone help!" Toph cried.

"Shut up!" The dark man slammed a fist into the metal move-a-jail.

Kuseron backed up slowly, before bursting through the doors and rolling up onto his feet. "Let her go!" He hissed, narrowing his blood red eyes.

The two men looked at him in surprise. Toph cried out from the metal casket. "Kuseron!"

These two men were earthbenders. The Shadowbender licked his lips and tossed his pack aside. Chiel rolled out of it in a ball and barked viciously. "I'll say it again, Let her go."

"I'll get her out of here Yu. You distract this brat." The Man who looked like a teacher stepped forward, glaring at him.

The other man Earthbended the wall to smithereens and picked up the metal casket before walking away as quickly as he could with the casket. "Toph!" Kuseron cried.

Yu lifted his hands, ready to attack, but he didn't give him a chance. Kuseron swung his hands down, the darkness under Yu caused him to fall over and he ran over to Yu, knocking him out with a swift punch to the head. Kuseron turned to the other man, who set down the casket and glared at him. "You _will_ let her go..." He hissed.

The other man laughed, "You just earned yourself a one way ticket home in little pieces kid."

Kuseron darted forward, jumping into the air and lashing out with a kick but the man blocked his attack and threw him back into the wall. It was over before he knew it. The Yu guy was back up, but they quickly pinned him to the ground with earthen cuffs. He glared at the two men. "What should we do with him Xiu Fu?"

"Knock him out. We'll leave him here..."

"No! Don't hurt him!" He heard Toph say, but that was the last thing he heard. Kuseron slipped into unconsciousness when Xiu Fu knocked him upside the head.

* * *

_Kuseron..._ Toph buried her head into her arms tears streaking down her face. She couldn't believe it. It had all been a ruse; a trick and She had fallen straight into the trap. Now Kuseron was trapped in some house, back in Ba Sing Se. She felt like she connected with him. The Shadowbender had helped her realize that she was a lot more than she thought. He had been someone who understood how she felt. Kuseron was hurt or worse.

Toph lifted her head, feeling blindly for the nearest wall of the metal jail. This was her new path. She wasn't giving up though. _I'll wait for you!_ She couldn't get out of here. Although, she could escape when she arrived back at the estate, she could take down the guards and run away again. They couldn't stop her.

She rubbed her head as they went over a bump. Kuseron. She had to get back to him, make sure he was all right. Even though she did not know what he looked like, she was sure that she liked him. He was nicer than people thought.

"I believe we need to go right!" Master Yu cried.

Toph sighed. These two were the worst kidnappers ever.

"What are you talking about? The Beifong estate is this way." Xiu Fu responded.

"I'm quite certain you're mistaken." Yu muttered.

Toph sighed in frustration and began to beat on the metal jail around her, standing. "Hey!" She had an idea. "If you two old ladies will stop bickering for a moment! I have to go to the bathroom!" They probably wouldn't fall for it. Though she knew she had to get back to Ba Sing Se. She had to get away from these bozos!

"Oh. Uh... Okay, but make it quick." Yu was falling into the trap. Just hopefully Xiu fu wouldn't stop him.

Her spirits were dampened quickly. "What's wrong with you?" Xiu Fu chided coldly.

Toph cursed under her breath. "Oo! Very sneaky Toph!" The Master was probably waving the key around like an idiot. "But you can't trick me!"

She slammed her head into the cold metal and then began to beat on it again. "Let me out so I can kick your butts!"

"Quit your banging!" Xiu Fu slammed his fist into the coffin. "You might think you're the greatest Earthbender in the world, but even you can't bend metal!"

She felt the metal coffin lurch forward as they made the ostrich-horses walk again with the whip of the reins. Toph frowned slowly. _I'm not going to make it back..._

She pressed a hand against the nearest part of the metal wall. Kuseron was... She wouldn't be able to get back to him, to make sure he didn't die. Toph felt tears stain her eyes. She didn't want to lose someone who she felt so easily connected to. Of course, she wasn't going to admit out in the open that she liked the dark thief. He said he'd be waiting for her. Kuseron had said that he had liked her for who she was even if they really barely knew each other. Toph liked herself the way she was. She didn't like what her parents wanted her to be... She narrowed her eyes, scowling. She _was_ going to get back to Kuseron. He _was_ going to be fine. They _were_ going to continue their friendship. She was going to get back to Sokka, Aang and Katara. Toph began to beat repeatedly on the metal cage, striking it like she would do with earthbending.

There had to be a way out! There had to be!

She slammed the back of her hands into the metal in front of her, smirking slowly. She could see it. Metal was apart of earth, but purified... She inhaled before exhaling.

_I will get back to them... _Toph thumped her left foot into the bottom of the metal containment unit. She pushed her hands hard into the wall in front of her. "C'mon metal... Budge." She whispered and pulled her hands back, slamming them once more into the wall. She felt the metal bend under her force. She pulled back, shaking her hands a bit. "Whoo! Toph, you rule." She slammed her hands back into the metal again.

It broke open from her force and she leapt forward, landing on the ground before quickly scrambling into the darkness of the woods. She was going to shut these bozos down for good...

"It's another one of her tricks!" Yu said quickly.

"There's a giant hole in the box! How is that a trick?" Xiu Fu hissed.

Toph appeared up on the hill, glaring down at them with her sightless eyes. "It's not!" She held her ups, "It's the real deal."

She commanded the earth to place them together with two walls of rock; she spun around, swinging her arms backwards. She felt them fly back into the metal that had held her not too long ago. Toph spun back around and launched forward, gripping the metal like it was dirt and pulling it together. She jumped atop the metal box and lifted a fist, "I _am_ the greatest earthbender in the world! Don't you two dunderheads ever forget it!" With that, she leapt off the metal casket and commanded the earth under her to bend down and then back up, moving her feet back and forth as if she was running, heading back towards Ba Sing Se. To Kuseron, to everyone else...

Toph didn't know how long she had been moving for, she hadn't stopped, not at all. She couldn't. By what she could tell from the birds, it was morning and Kuseron had been stuck in that house all day and night. He was her main concern at the moment. The Shadowbender had smarts and finesse, but that didn't mean he couldn't withstand a powerful Earthbender like Xiu Fu.

Her concentration broke when she heard a familiar voice and animal. "Need a ride?" Sokka called. Toph couldn't stop herself from losing balance and hitting the ground face first.

Appa landed on the ground with a loud happy growl. Toph pushed up and spat out dirt. "Thanks, really needed that Sokka."

Sokka chuckled nervously as he helped her up onto Appa. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you fall and everything."

Toph shook her head. "We need to get to Ba Sing Se."

Aang huffed. "I know."

Toph furrowed her brows. "How did you know I got taken by Xiu Fu and Master Yu?"

They gave her equally questioning responses, "What?"

She shook her head. "We need to get to the house that I went to, to meet my mother. Xiu Fu and Yu ambushed me there; Kuseron tried to stop them but got knocked out, possibly even put into the ground. We _need_ to find him."

Aang replied quickly. "Then we can pick him up and go see if Katara's alright as well."

Toph blinked. "Why? What happened?"

Aang snapped the reins and they took off into the air, she clutched tightly around Sokka's arm, who yelped in surprise but did not protested. He knew full well that she was blind. "I had a vision that Katara was in trouble."

Toph blinked her sightless eyes. "Oh. How did it go with the guru?" She asked. "Did you master the avatar state?"

"Uh..." Aang didn't respond right away, seeming hesitant.

Sokka spoke next. "Aang are you okay?"

"I'm great. It went great with the guru. I completely mastered the Avatar state." Aang mused.

Toph smiled slightly. That was good news but her mind was on Kuseron. Would he still be alive? Was he all right if he was...?

Aang chuckled nervously. "Yeah."

They landed by the half destroyed house that Xiu Fu and Master Yu had used to trap her in. She jumped off before they could fully land. Toph ran inside quickly, "Kuseron?" She called anxiously. Sokka and Aang followed in after her before letting out startled gasps. Toph could tell he was on the floor. Kuseron was pinned to the ground, half encased in earth. No doubt Xiu Fu had done that to him.

"He's barely breathing! Quick Aang, help me!" She cried. Aang stood beside her and they commanded the earth to let its grasp around the Shadowbender go. Kuseron barely stirred when the earth let him go. Chiel came out of nowhere, barking and growling viciously. Toph bent down before the Armadillo wolf. "It's okay now Chiel..." The Armadillo wolf relaxed a bit, but kept growling.

Toph walked past the pup, bending down beside Kuse. "Kuseron? Are you okay?" She whispered.

The Shadowbender stirred a little more, moaning softly. "Toph?" He questioned.

Toph smiled slightly, although it was sad. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

She felt the shadowbender try to sit up but Aang pushed him back down. "You shouldn't move you seem badly hurt."

Kuseron snorted. "What gave it..." He winced. "Away?"

They managed to move him to Appa, where Aang gently Airbended the boy up onto Appa's head. Kuseron was sat up slowly, leaning back against the beast's back. "H-How did you escape?" He whispered hoarsely.

Toph leaned beside him, gripping onto one of his arms lightly. "I learned how to metalbend."

Kuseron was probably trying to understand this concept but merely sighed. "I've decided."

She turned her head to him. "What?"

Kuseron managed a small laugh. "I'll join you guys."

Toph slightly only began to wonder what he looked like. Was he showing the pain on his face or was he silently enduring it, wishing it to all disappear? "Rest." She commanded softly as she felt him shift a bit. She smiled though. Kuseron had made his decision; he was going to come with them.

They landed by the Palace and left the Shadowbender to rest on Appa's head, who had begun to softly snore on the way to the Palace.

"Katara's fine. You have nothing to worry about." The Earth king mused loftily. He was happy.

Toph kept her head down, frowning a bit. She was hoping maybe Katara could heal Kuse. She couldn't tell the extent of his injuries, but it was enough to make him flinch every time he tried to move.

"But in my vision, I felt so sure that she was in trouble." Aang muttered as he stepped forward.

"Well, she met with the council of Generals to plan the invasion and since then she's been off with your friends, the Kyoshi warriors."

Toph mentally sighed. Katara was fine. They just needed to find her now.

"See Aang, she's with Suki. They're probably back at the apartment talking about make-up or something..." Sokka said.

"Ok. Maybe you're right." Aang grumbled half-heartedly.

"Believe me, if there was any danger at all, Bosco's animal instincts would sense it."

Toph almost laughed. The bear wasn't the brightest, having been raised in a Palace for most of his life.

They returned back to Appa, who was lightly dozing off and Kuseron was now back awake, kind of agitated by the air around him. She didn't ask why... So they returned quickly to the apartment to see if Katara was there, hopefully she was. She wanted Katara to heal Kuseron.

They left Kuseron on the bison, so he didn't feel the need to hurt himself more. She ran inside with Sokka and Aang in pursuit. When they got inside, Momo jumped up onto Aang, chattering away. Toph blinked, "There's no one else here."

Aang shifted. "Katara _is_ in trouble. I knew it!"

Sokka slowly groaned. "Oh no."

Toph felt more vibrations; they came from outside the door. She turned and pointed at the door. "Someone else is at the door." There were a few sharp knocks on the wood and she smiled. "Actually I know who it is."

She pulled open the door. It was the old man she had met in the woods, Iroh. "Glad to see you're okay."

Aang and Sokka seemed a bit surprised.

"I need your help..." Iroh muttered.

Aang and Sokka recoiled at this. Kuseron lifted his head from where he was, shouting out hoarsely. "Hey Mushi!"

The man turned back to the sky bison and waved at Kuseron. "Well, Hello there Kuseron, I haven't seen you for a while."

"Well I haven't exactly been to the outer ring for a while."

Iroh nodded. "I see."

The man turned his attention back to them. "You guys know each other?" Aang cried. The question directed at her.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and some very good advice." She replied a bit happily.

Kuseron lifted his voice up. "I know him from a tea shop down in the Outer ring..." He paused. "Still making the best tea in the world?"

Iroh rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, I am Kuseron." Then he turned back to them. "May I come in?"

The man walked in and Toph closed the door on Kuseron, who had probably gone back to resting on Appa.

"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se."

"She must have Katara." Aang muttered.

"She has captured my nephew as well..." The old man grumbled.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara and Zuko." Aang declared.

Toph heard Sokka walk forward. "Whoa there, you lost me at Zuko."

She slightly wondered why Sokka was complaining. They had a chance to save Katara this was there chance.

"I know how you must feel about my nephew, but believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him..."

Toph felt sadness in the man's voice. He really loved his Nephew, even if he was chasing the avatar around.

Sokka protested hastily. "Good inside him isn't enough! Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?"

Aang spoke up, diplomatically of course. "Katara's in trouble, all of Ba Sing Se is in trouble, working together is our best chance..."

The Old man walked past Sokka and Aang, heading for the door. "I brought someone along, who might be able to help us..."

It was a tied up Dai Li agent.

She earthbended him to where he could stand but not touching the ground with his feet. "Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth king." The Dai Li man spoke quickly.

Sokka stepped forward with his machete. "My sister? Where are they keeping Katara?"

"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace." The agent muttered.

They got onto Appa. Kuseron conversed with Iroh for a little while they sped through the air towards the palace. "Wow. Never would have guessed you to have once been a Great Firebender..."

Iroh chortled lightly. "I try not to fight without purpose nowadays."

Kuseron groaned a bit. "You're lucky."

Once they got to the palace, they hid Appa. "I can watch him. Don't worry guys... I may be hurt, but the least I can do is keep Appa safe." He whispered.

Toph hit the ground hard and bent down, placing a hand on the ground. She could see, but just barely. There was a bunch of tunnels down there, but they were deep down.

"Well, Whadda know. There is an ancient city down there but it's deep." She split the earth open, making an opening for Aang and Iroh to go down into.

"We should split up." Sokka muttered. "Aang, you and Iroh go look for Katara and the angry jerk. No offense..."

Iroh shrugged. "None taken."

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup."

She went along with Sokka, put her thoughts about Kuseron aside. He'd be all right...

"There's General How." Sokka muttered and pulled her behind one of the pillars. There was a struggle. "The coup is happening right now! We've got to warn the Earth King."

They ran along towards the Earth King's throne room quickly. They both came skidding to a stop. "Thank goodness we're in time!" Sokka cried.

"In time for what?" The King questioned.

"Yeah? What are you in time for?" One of the Kyoshi warriors asked, flipping over to Sokka. "Cutie..."

"Uhm... I'm kind of involved with Suki." Sokka muttered.

"Who?"

Toph's eyes widened momentarily. This was a trick. She made the earth underneath the girl push her away. "They're not the real Kyoshi warriors." She stated simply.

The Earth King gasped.

The other warrior stood slowly. "Sorry to disappoint you." She sent darts at her but she raised a wall of earth around her and sent it flying at the fake-Kyoshi warrior. The girl leapt forward and Toph earthbended again. She jumped into the air and landed a little away from her.

She was about to help Sokka but a cold voice spoke, "This fight is over."

The girl had the Earth King. It was Azula.

Toph grunted when she was knuckled in the back several times. What had she done? She hit the ground without being able to catch herself. She couldn't move!

"Get them all out of my sight." Azula muttered.

They were all dragged away.

When she was able to regain herself, they found themselves in a Metal cell. Toph sighed. "I'll get us out of here."

Sokka looked at her. "How?"

"Metalbending of course." She replied. "Check if there are any guards out there."

Sokka went to the door. "See any Dai Li agents?"

"All clear."

She crackled her knuckles and removed the door in one thrust of her hands.

"Let's go!"

The Earth King said quickly. "I'm not leaving without Bosco!"

They ran back to the throne as quickly as they could. The two fake Kyoshi warriors were there.

Toph quickly earthbended the flexible one into the ground, and Bosco clapped his paws together. "That is a nice trick."

The one sitting near the throne sighed. "Just take the bear."

The King quickly hugged his bear, "Bosco!"

They got back to Appa, where Kuseron lifted his head questioningly. "What happened?" He asked, wincing as he spoke.

Everyone clambered onto the sky bison, waiting for Aang and Katara.

"Tell you later." Toph whispered.

The only thing they hadn't been expected was what had happened to Aang. He had been severely hurt.

Everyone climbed onto Appa's back to give Katara and Aang room. She tried to heal Aang, but he hardly stirred when Katara did. They flew off into the night without much of a peep.

As they flew away, the Earth King muttered sadly. "The Earth Kingdom has fallen..."


	6. Recovery

**This chapter is Short, but I am posting early! Give me some credit for that. Also, I have a notice for those you have not seen it, check my Profile please. [Plus it's a filler chapter]**

**I own nothing but Kuseron.**

**Also, I've fixed all the errors I could find in the previous chapters. So. Yeah. Enjoy.**

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Kuseron groaned as he felt some of his ribs snap back into place. He was very grateful for Katara. She was an excellent healer. Most of his various injuries from the fight with those two men had been bruises, but when that man, Xiu Fu had encased him in the ground...

He had been sure he was going to die there. Then, she had found him. Toph had been there to free him. He still did not understand the concept of Metalbending. He was a shadowbender after all anyways. "There. Feeling any better?" The waterbender asked. The Shadowbender gingerly sat up. Everything was back in place. He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Katara..."

"You'll have to rest for a good while Kuseron. While you are healed, you're physical strength will have to be built back up." He cracked a small smile for the young waterbender. This was ridiculous. They had flown all the way to Chameleon Bay. He watched Katara leave the tent he was in. A few other water tribe warriors were here, mild injuries that Katara had healed quickly. They were preparing to leave but Katara wanted him to rest. The only other person who inhabited the tent, was unconscious. Aang, it had almost been 2 weeks.

_I am never going to hear the end of this._ He grumbled to himself and flipped over in his little sleeping bag. Kuseron was determined to be up and moving, he didn't like sitting around. It was funny though. His gaze traveled to Aang. Katara had said he was going to survive, everything checked out, but he was just unable to return to the world yet. What was even funnier, was the fact that he had hair now. He frowned. Katara was in here almost every hour of the day, checking on him repeatedly.

He sat up, ignoring some pain that still ran up his spine. There was no point in sitting here... Kuseron had a right to ignore Katara's warnings. He had been worked on repeatedly for days now. He was pretty sure he was ready to get out a bit.

The Shadowbender quietly slipped out of the tent and blinked at the blinding light of the sun. The place hadn't changed much. Warriors were still milling around, Team Avatar as Sokka called them, was sitting quietly around a fire. The Earth King and Bosco were not to far away. Katara had discussed with him about the new plans they were intending to set in motion. The only thing different about the place and Katara had told him about this, was there was a hidden Fire nation boat nearby.

They were getting ready to mobilize. They were going to head towards the Fire Nation, the invasion was still ready to go on but this time, they'd only have a small group of old friends. He didn't know most of these 'old friends' of theirs, but was willing to meet them in the end when they reached to Fire Nation. Toph lifted her head, a sudden smile creeping up on her face. "Hey Kuseron." She mused.

The Shadowbender shifted with a small stretch. Katara was ready to start fussing but he raised a hand. "Don't. I need the fresh air." He grumbled. Katara glared at him for a moment before sitting back down with an annoyed grunt. He was about to sit down, but Toph stood. "Can I talk to you?" She asked softly, the others had struck up a conversation concerning who they should bring along on the Fire Nation ship. Kuseron nodded. "Of course."

They walked away from camp quietly, not many of the warriors giving them second glances. They stopped near the beach, where Toph looked up at him. "What did you want to talk about?" He asked.

"Well, I was hoping, since it was a bit my fault for you getting encased in the ground, that I could help you..."

Kuseron froze. "No." It was out of his mouth before he realized it. Having someone else help him was a sign of weakness.

Toph looked a bit sad before her face formed into one of dour. "Why not?" She grumbled, almost like a child.

He sighed. "It's not that I don't mind the help, it's just... I feel like I show weakness when people help me. I don't need anyone's charity."

Toph dropped her head a bit, slouching. "I understand." She was admitting defeat and she began to walk away. He felt so stupid. Kuse spun her around, even though she couldn't see, his face was miserable. "I don't mind the help Toph, not at all." She brightened at this and hugged him, tightly.

It was a frightening sensation, if one knew what it felt like to have one's spine bend so awkwardly forward. He was trying to hold back the sounds of pain from escaping his lips, but a sudden voice. Sweet cheek's voice cried, "Toph! Stop it! You're hurting him." Kuseron was let go of and he flexed his back carefully. Toph frowned. "Sorry."

He waved a hand dismissively. "I-It's alright." His attention turned to the Waterbender as she ran off, opening her mouth to begin to berate Toph but he stood, cutting into her. "I like you better with your mouth closed Sweetcheeks." He grumbled. Katara stared at him before rolling her eyes, anger contorting her face somewhat. He sneered at her. "I'm fine _Sugar Queen._" She was about to speak again but the man, Hakoda, called her over.

"Katara!" He was waving to her. Katara looked back at him before sniffing disdainfully, running towards her father.

"That's going to come back and bite you in the blubber." Toph mimicked Sokka's voice slightly, grinning.

He shrugged casually. "Doesn't bother me, I'm perfectly fine. It's not like I still have broken bones, except after your hug... I suspect I have a few cracks."

Toph grinned sheepishly at him before sitting down on the warm sand beneath her. "So, you really won't mind if I help?"

He stared out at the clear blue ocean, lips tugged upwards in a small smile. "No, not really." The Shadowbender sat down, watching the waves lap up towards them, but coming no farther than the rocks that marked a drop off into the ocean. Toph punched him again, this time it was more of a tap then a real punch. Kuseron bumped back with his shoulder.

"You're like a friend I never had when I was growing up on the estate." Toph muttered.

Kuseron grinned slightly. "You? _Mucking_ around with me?" He made a sound that was much akin to 'pft'. "You wouldn't do such a thing," He stood up completely straight, mimicking a stern, paternal voice.

"There will be no _consorting_ with that lowly thing! Do you understand me Toph?"

Toph laughed a bit at this. "Yes Father, of course father." She said in a fake pout before standing.

Kuseron licked his lips. The blind girl spoke with an irregular emotion to her voice. "You make it sound a lot like him." She muttered. Kuseron blinked. Had he brought back unwanted memories? _I didn't upset her did I?_ He pinched the bridge of his nose, ready to apologize but she shrugged. "It's alright. You also make it sound quite ridiculous. I'm glad I'm away from that life."

_I'm glad too, I may have not ever met you otherwise._ They quietly made their way back to camp, where they found everyone was... Getting ready.

"—Men, I am leaving Tao in charge." Hakoda was appointing a leader to take his place until he got back.

Katara came running up to them. "Kuseron, Toph. We're getting ready to ship off on the Fire Nation boat. Are you guys ready?"

Chiel came darting up, he had grown a bit bigger over the last couple of weeks. He looked more like an average 'teen' armadillo wolf. His pet had his pack in his jaws firmly, grinning doggishly around the strap. "Why thank you Chiel." He murmured. Toph took the bag with a small smirk. Now that everything formal was over, the Earth King decided to speak up.

"I'm afraid I won't be coming along." He said.

The GAang turned to him, questioning faces pressing him for answers. "I won't be of any proper use to you guys, so I've decided, that I will travel the world." He had changed over the last two weeks, drastically so in Kuseron's terms. He had stopped wearing Royal clothing and was no dressed more like a commoner, and Bosco no longer wore his ridiculous outfit as well. He spoke first, bowing to the Earth King. "It was an honor to know you My liege."

They said their quick goodbyes before everyone was finally loaded up on the Boat. Friends of Katara, Aang and Sokka's had gathered, to come along with them. A guy named Pipsqueak and the Duke. They contrasted one another perfectly. Pipsqueak was huge. The Duke was small. Brothers possibly.

Kuseron found himself with his own private quarters and he fell promptly asleep after Katara made sure there were no more bruises or fracturing of his bones.


	7. The Fire Nation

**Here you guys go... 24 pages long! Just for my readers. Enjoy it!**

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The mind was an odd place, he knew that by now. Kuseron shifted slightly, there was another presence... He could feel it. It was far away, buried deep in his mind, in his soul. Shadowbending, it wasn't like the other elements. It required you to look through the obscurities of life. It required devotion and hours of practice and time consuming walks through the darkness. Meditating was not on the list of to-dos for Shadowbending. No... This was for something else. It was to help him look into himself. The Mind was a place unlike any other. Kuseron could see things, hazy but he could see them and hear them. It came out broken up, like a scratchy record.

_In... Out..._

"_Another"_-fzzt_-_"_Kio!"_

Kuseron pressed on, trying to break the haze around the memory. It _had_ to open up. He flinched slightly, he felt a wall break. The memory was of the night he had killed that Thug that had dared to spill his drink...

_He raised the cup to his lips, letting the bitter tonic roll over his lips, through his teeth and across his tongue. The cool, bitter liquid quenched his dying need for the drink that would later only make his head hurt and his mouth parch. Kuseron scowled slightly. "Another Kio." He grumbled to a baldheaded man. Kio was a light tan, with a dirty look to him, but he was a rather nice person once you got past the looks. "Rough night?" Kuseron placed a few copper coins down. "What do you think?"_

"_I see." Kio quickly fixed up his drink, taking the empty glass and replacing it with the filled one._

_Kuseron didn't usually pay attention to the other thugs and thieves that entered the bar, but a loud man came bustling in. He had a few other thugs following behind him. "Hey Kio!" He brandished a small dagger. "Get us a round of your finest." The Thug grinned devilishly. This guy, the Shadowbender remembered him. He was a top-notch thug apparently. Kio didn't ask for money. Status held power, power gave you pawns, and Pawns gave you what they had. It was a simple process._

_The Thug pushed his way to the bar, his train making people move. Kuseron did not move. He wasn't going to move, just because they wanted the bar to themselves. Kio looked at him with wide eyes, "You better move!" He hissed._

_He still did not move._

"_Hey Worm! Move your scrawny ass!" One man pushed him aside, causing his drink to spill down his shirt as he landed on the ground. Laughter came out from around the bar, some of it was hesitant. The Shadowbender lifted his gaze, eyes deadly and a hiss slipped through his lips. "Bastard!" The head thug turned to him, glaring down at him. "What did you just call my friend?"_

_Everything went silent._

"_You heard me." Kuseron growled, pushing up onto his feet with a scowl that held every ounce of anger in his body._

_The thug loomed over him. "Are you asking for a fight kid?"_

_Kuseron lifted his gaze, returning the man's glare. "Maybe I am..."_

_The thug brandished his dagger near his throat, pressing it near his jugular. "You're pretty stupid kid. Do you know who I am?" Kuseron didn't answer, slamming his palm into the man's stomach, pushing him back with a single thrust. "Do you know who I am?" He whispered, eyes deadly._

_The thug grabbed the hilt of his dagger, "You just asked for a whole lot of pain worm."_

_Kuseron only snorted, "You should know something, I'm not normal. Never was... I was born with_—"

Kuseron flinched again, the memory faded, something bringing him back to the present. His red eyes opened and he about jumped out of his skin, eyes wide as he stared into the sightless eyes of Toph. "Hullo? Anyone in there?" Kuseron backed up quickly, breathing heavily.

"Spirits! Toph...!" He groaned, leaning back into one of the cool metal walls, color creeping up his neck. She had been... Very close. The blind girl frowned back at him. "Did I disturb you?" Kuseron rubbed his eyes. No, he felt horrible. Tired too. Extremely tired. Maybe his memories were fuzzy for a reason. Toph stood, walking over to him and she extended a hand quickly. "I brought you some food." He took her hand and was pulled up quickly.

"Thanks." He replied, coming back to sit on the bed that was his. Toph sat down beside him, holding out a tray for him. He took it and devoured the food, hungry too. He made a mental note to return to that memory when he had time. Toph nudged him. "Are you alright? You wouldn't answer me for a while."

"Uh..." He hesitated. "I'm fine. Just was thinking about something."

The girl nodded and stood, walking towards the door. "Just come find me if you need anything."

Kuseron sniffed. "S'alright."

Later. Maybe after his nap. He looked out the window. Had he been meditating that long? It was nighttime. The Shadowbender slipped under the covers, hearing the loud but hard footsteps of Katara. Did she want something? He strained slightly. Who was she talking to?

"This way Aang, You're room is a little more down this hall."

"Where's Kuseron?" A groan followed this. "Did he come with us?"

Katara paused in her walking. "Yeah. He's been resting ever since we got to Chameleon bay. He's completely healed..."

He heard nothing else except the sound of a closing metal door and he curled up. Aang was finally up and about.

_Later. Later you idiot..._

* * *

"—Just stay quiet until we get safely across the ramp, then we'll sink this ship."

Toph let her eyes grow wide. They knew! Why did they have to known? She scowled, stepping up quickly and pointing in the three firebenders general direction. "They know!" She let the alarm slip from her throat quickly. The earthbender slammed her hand into the cold metal, twisting slightly. She heard yelps of surprise as the ramp fell into the water. She ran to the edge and could tell from the vibrations that flowed through the cold metal, that Katara, was bending water between them.

Toph ran to where the Duke and Pipsqueak were, the boat shook vigorously from the impacts of the flaming, oil covered rocks thrown at them. "Load the Toph![1]" She growled. Pipsqueak hefted up a large rock in front of her. She shrunk down to a good enough size and quickly launched it forward.

She heard a satisfying crash from the Fire Nation boat. One of the catapults were down. She gave a small smirk before returning to shooting another rock into the air. The Duke was behind her, probably pretending like he was bending from what she could tell at the moment. She heard a loud crash, the rock of hers had collided with another flaming rock.

The boat shook again when a large metal hook tore into the boat, ripping open a hole for water to seep into. Toph's eyes widened. Kuseron was on the lower levels! What if enough water seeped in to drown him? Toph let out a breathe of relief, Katara froze the hole over and shouted, "I'm going to give us cover!"

She could feel the steam around them, Toph began to relax, until she heard another fireball whizzing towards the boat. Everyone began to run for cover, and she was left alone. She had no idea where the fireball was! Why did people always do this to her? She scowled, ready to tear up the boat to pull a metal shield around her but someone[2] came out of nowhere, she couldn't even tell if this person was a person. The person tackled her around the waist, arms wrapping tightly her waist and she was thrown to the deck near the Duke.

"Aang! No!" Sokka's voice rung out from the boat. She could feel Twinkletoes running across the deck, but Sokka caught up to him.

"You're still hurt! And you _have_ to stay secret. Just let us handle this." Aang walked away, grumbling for a minute before grabbing his staff from the water tribe warrior, "Fine!"

Sokka seemed pleased, until another fireball came and hit the ship. The person who had helped her earlier was gone. She had wondered who had been the one to help her, when everyone had been elsewhere. She stood up quickly, "How we doing?" She asked.

Sokka turned to look at her. "Things couldn't get much worse."

As if a cue, the Sea Serpent from Serpent's pass showed up, letting its bone-rattling screech into the air. Toph mentally cringed at this. Why did Sokka always have to jinx things? He made everything so much worse!

"The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" Sokka had turned to look up at the beast.

She groaned. "You make it too easy!"

The Serpent let out another terrifying screech when a fireball hit the beast. Sokka ran to the edge when it began to attack the ship. "Thank you, the universe."

Toph rolled her glassed over eyes, turning and heading towards the ship's housing unit, down two levels and into Kuseron's room. She could tell he was looking out the window. Kuse sighed sleepily. "Must we always find trouble?" He grumbled, almost incoherently. Toph smiled. He was alright.

"Well Mr. Tall, Dark and Creepy, it's just that we're a little too good for going unnoticed." She replied. The Shadowbender turned to her, chuckling slightly. "When do we ever go unnoticed?"

* * *

Kuseron stretched as he made his way to the deck. It was time to get some fresh air. Everyone had left to go out and eat. He had stayed behind, and apparently Aang had as well. The bald monk hadn't been in his room, so he suspected the boy was out for so fresh air as well. The Shadowbender stopped when Chiel popped out of nowhere, running in between his feet. He laughed, "Where are you going?"

His pet Armadillo-wolf ran around his feet before exiting onto the deck. Kuseron lifted his red eyes, spotting Aang. The boy was... running? He gave a momentary sound of surprise before spinning around, slamming a heel into the metal and thrusting his hands forward, his left hand outstretched while his right was pulled in, looking like a hook. Aang was stopped, dead in his tracks.

"Aang! What are you doing?" He hissed. Pinning his feet to the metal with the darkness around them. He was glad the sun had set. This was his prime element, his prime time. Aang twisted his head around, glaring at him. "Let me go Kuseron!" Chiel darted forward and tugged the monk's flying staff out of his hands.

"Hey!" Aang moved after the Shadowbender's pet but Chiel darted away and stood behind him. The monk began to struggle, vainly. He wouldn't stop moving. He was still very fatigued from the earlier breakthrough in his memories, but now, he was focused on keeping Aang where he was.

"Stop it Aang." He muttered, his voice deadly and commanding. The Avatar stopped struggling, looking back at him. "If I release you, will you not go after my pet?"

Aang glared at Chiel for a second before huffing. "Can't promise anything."

Kuseron raised a hand, the shadows engulfing Aang up to his neck. The boy looked like he was striking a pose, running after a leaf or something. "Okay then..." The Darkness released its grasp around the Avatar. Aang landed on his feet lightly. Kuseron crossed his arms. "Where do you think you were going?" He chided coolly.

Aang's blue gaze grew colder. "I'm leaving, to redeem my honor."

Kuseron snorted, "Yeah right. How far do you think you'd get?" He bit back the response. Aang visibly flinched at his tone. "Oh, wait, I know... Not far!" He took the staff from Chiel, who had decided that it was the best time to get away from Kuse. Chiel knew all about Kuseron's times of anger. If that what it should be called.

"You've been injured Aang. We're sorry that you don't like being cooped up like this and we know that you hate the fact that everyone thinks you are dead!" He spat, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I know for a fact what it's like being cooped up, how it feels to think about people you have failed."

He took in a deep breath. He didn't know what he felt, but it felt similar to what he had said. It felt like thousand of years of that. He just... He snapped his gaze down to the markings on his hands. They were strange markings.

He lifted his gaze back to his friend. "I'm not one to incite wisdom here, but... You can't save the world alone. Didn't they teach you that in Avatar school? Besides..." He trailed off for a moment, holding out the staff to Aang. "If you leave, I'm pretty sure someone won't be too happy about it."

Aang looked at his staff before looking back at Kuseron. He could tell the Avatar was thinking about Katara. She meant a whole lot to Aang. "You can go or stay." Aang shifted uncomfortably before reaching out to grab his staff. Kuseron didn't let it go. "I _have_ to reclaim my honor." Aang whispered.

Kuseron couldn't help but sneer. "Doesn't that sound all too familiar." The Avatar looked him squarely in the eye.

He lifted his hand, placing it over his left eye. "I must _reclaim_ my honor by capturing the Avatar." He mimicked the Fire nation Prince's voice perfectly. "Look where it got him." He hissed.

Aang visibly gulped at this but pulled his staff out of the Shadowbender's hand. "I know what I'm doing."

"You're taking the dark path Avatar Aang, turn back while you have a chance." Kuseron whispered.

Aang backed up a few steps before turning away and running off, gone into the distance on his glider before Kuseron could even blink. As if a cue, the others had come back on. Aang was far away now, gone, couldn't even see his small silhouette. Toph walked over to him. "What are you looking at?"

"An enemy, a familiar friend. My beginning and my end, the known truths and the whispered lies..." He replied.

Toph's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"It hurts again. What I fear and what I've tried, Words I say and what I hide. All the pain, I want it to end..." Kuseron turned around, watching Katara run to her father on the deck overhead. Toph peered up at him with a frown. "Heh-low? Anyone in there?" She lightly knocked on his head and he looked down at her.

"Sorry." He replied, brightening up at bit. She was here. That was all that really mattered at the moment. "Soooo? What'cha got for me?" He asked with a small grin.

Toph raised a brow at him suspiciously but held out a bowl of white rice for him. "That's it?" He questioned.

"No, unless this is all you want." Kuseron looked past her, there was a tray in her other hand and it had some nice looking fish on there, with a side of noodles mixed in with some vegetables. He went to reach around her for it, but she pushed him back a step. The Shadowbender looked at her with a frown. "Toph, give it here." He pouted. Which he usually did not do, but his stomach was hungry. It was growling for some food. He moved forward, reaching for the tray but Toph grinned mischievously and metalbended his feet in place.

"Toph!" He cried and looked down at his feet. "That's not fair!" She shrugged a bit, taking the chopsticks in her hand and began to munch on the fish. Kuseron's mouth dropped and he reached forward, a determined look on his face but she simply stepped out of his reach. He flailed for a bit before giving up, and just glaring. _Fine. Be that way._ Katara came running up after a moment, eyes still fresh from tears she had shed. "Guys, we have to go after Aang." Kuseron turned his head to the water tribe girl, smiling nervously. She looked at him questioningly. "What do you know?"

"Uh... Not much. My memories from earlier is a bit hazy[3]. Matter of fact, a lot of my memories are fuzzy." He grumbled and slowly lowered his gaze at Katara's outraged look. She fumbled for words for a minute before bursting out. "Why did you let him go?" Katara glared at him with eyes as sharp as flint.

"Can't you remember anything?" She grounded out at Kuse.

The Shadowbender shook his head slowly. "No, I'd have to meditate on it Katara. I have these times in life were I don't feel like myself, and when I try to remember what happened, I can't." He muttered gloomily. Toph suddenly grinned. "I could beat it out of him." The Shadowbender looked at her with a scowl. "You are not helping."

"But I think... I think I know which way he went." He said a bit hopefully. Katara wasn't so mad at him now, but she was thinking. Sokka had joined up with them. Kuseron licked his lips. "I have an idea."

"We can leave on Appa to search for Aang, maybe get more insight on the Fire Nation. I mean, we'll have to split from the group but we can meet up with them for the Invasion." He spoke quickly. Sokka and Katara were thinking this over quickly.

"It sounds like a good idea." Sokka said quickly. "That way, they'll be less of a target if the Fire Nation figures out that this ship was captured."

"Alright. Let's go find Aang." The three of them ran off, leaving him there. Kuseron sighed.

"GUYS!"

Toph turned back to him with an ever-growing grin before releasing his feet from the metal that kept him in place. Kuse ran after them. With sudden, quick goodbyes and packing ... They were ready to go. "Which way did Aang go?" Katara asked him. Kuseron faced towards the moon. "That way." He said simply. Not the best directions, but it was a start. Kuseron wasn't sure where they were when the sun had rose. The Shadowbender stretched a bit. Toph was laying against him, unbeknownst to her. She had fallen asleep near him. Apparently, she was a restless sleeper.

He lifted his head, staring down at an island that looked like a crescent moon. He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why is there a person...?" He trialed off before jumping up, sending Toph into a small fit. Who woke Katara and snapped Sokka out of his sleepy daze. "There! Aang's there!" He cried.

Sokka snapped Appa's reins, who responded and slowly descended towards the ground. Chiel was whining a bit but his tail began to wag happily. Momo took off of Appa and flew down to Aang. Everyone was running up pretty quickly, except him, he was still on new terms with everyone, excluding Toph. Kuseron slowly walked to them. "You're okay!" Katara cried, sliding across the volcanic ground and into a quick hug for Aang. Sokka and Toph joined the two and Kuseron did too, albeit he didn't like it.

He wasn't a hugger. Simple as that. The hug was over quickly and Kuseron stood slowly while the others stayed down. "I have so much to do." Aang whispered with a frown.

"I know, but you'll have our help." Katara murmured.

Toph was grinning. "You didn't think you'd get out of training by coming to the fire nation did you?"

Aang looked to him. Kuseron nodded in response, although, if anyone else had been looking at him, they would have seen that his eyes were glassed over. Aang gave him a quizzically look before turning to Sokka. Kuseron's eyes returned to normal. "What about the invasion?"

"We'll join my dad and the invasion force on the day of the Eclipse." Sokka replied.

Kuseron blinked as he saw Aang's glider appear. Toph was frowning. "Hey? What's this? Oh it's your glider." She muttered as everyone began to stand. Aang shrugged at this. "That's okay. If someone saw it. It would give away my identity." Aang looked forlorn.

The Shadowbender knew that this was something he was going to have to give up, even if Aang didn't want to. "It's better for now, that no one knows I'm alive." The monk leapt upwards and landed on a small rock that was venting gases and spewing lava. Aang spun his staff around before placing it in the lava. It was an honorable sacrifice.

* * *

"Tell me why again, why are we a really fast cloud on a _windless_ day?" Kuseron grumbled. This was absurd, like everything else they did. Nobody answered him of course... Well, that was because only he and Aang were awake at the moment. The airbender looked back at him. "Don't worry Kuseron, no one's going to see us." The Shadowbender sighed, glancing down at Toph, who had, again, fell asleep and then rolled over to his side. "I _like_ subtle, it's better than this..." He muttered.

Aang gave him a small smile. "Subtle can be _your_ thing, but our thing is just going at it however we can."

Kuseron narrowly avoided one of Toph's hands as she flopped again, snuggling into his side. He couldn't help but reddened ever so slightly... He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Aang was facing the ocean again, but he spoke to him and not the wind. "Thanks." The Shadowbender raised a brow. "For what?"

"You pointed me to the right path," Aang paused. "I probably would have ended up getting myself hurt again if I hadn't pulled myself from the path I was going along..."

Kuseron blinked his blood red eyes. What was he talking about? He kept the question to himself, but quietly replied. "No problem."

Kuseron could see through the cloud that they were coming across islands, and everyone was beginning to wake up. Sokka had been feigning sleep, because he was up and wary as they began to cross into Fire nation territory once again.

Toph snuggled against his side again before stretching her legs out and yawning, a sign that she was finally waking. "Cozy?" Kuse asked softly. The earthbender stopped and turned to look in his direction. The blush on her cheeks could not be hidden, he had seen it now. Kuseron chuckled lightly. "Don't worry. I promise not to tell anyone that you were snuggling against me." She jabbed him in the ribs but hardly flinched, still grinning.

"I think I see a cave below." Aang muttered as they began to descend. Sokka looked at Aang angrily, "Shhh!" He crawled over to Appa's head and looked Aang dead in the eye. "Keep Quiet!"

Aang quickly airbended the cloud away, making some birds squawk in protest. Sokka jumped off first and pressed himself against a rock, glaring to his right. "Nice job with the cloud cameo," He looked at the rest of them. "But next time let's be a cloud that knows how to keep its mouth shout."

Kuseron leapt down on the ground, Chiel leapt down after him. The Armadillo-wolf was too big to be put in his bag now. Chiel sniffed the ground before sneezing. "Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird hear us chatting up there and turn us in." Toph muttered dryly. Sokka looked at her, his eyes twitching. "Hey!" He put his hands out slightly. "We're in enemy territory," He pointed up at the four birds that had flocked up above his head. "Those are enemy birds."

Kuseron snorted. "Yeah. _Harmless_ enemy birds if you ask me." One leapt down onto Sokka's head and squawked. The others laughed besides Sokka, who's face contorted with anger. They broke off towards the Cave entrance, but Sokka, being the idiot... He leapt over the four of them, landing on his face but he pushed up and glanced around warily. The Shadowbender rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long week.

"Ok. So this is how we will be living until the invasion begins." Sokka was smiling contently at everyone. "Hiding in cave, after cave..." He head sunk down a little here. "After cave..." His head sunk a little more. "After cave." His head dropped and the boy stared at the ground.

_Wow._ He rolled his eyes again, patting Chiel lightly on the head as he watched the nutcase. "Sokka. We don't need to become cave people." Katara chided diplomatically. "What we need is some new clothes."

"Yeah," Aang placed his hands on his waist. "Blending in is better than hiding out." The monk spoke a better plan than Sokka's. Kuseron smirked to himself. "If we get Fire nation disguises, we'll be just as save as if we were hiding out in a cave."

Kuseron sat down beside Chiel as Aang spoke, leaning into his furry buddy as he watched. "Plus," Toph was sitting down between two rocks. "They have real food out there." She shook her head, putting a hand out in a 'Really?' kind of manner. "Does anyone else want to sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"

Toph slammed a fist into the wall, a bunch of white crickets hopped out of nowhere in particular. Momo dove for one and caught it, munching on the thing before looking back at everyone. The winged lemur spat the hopper out and Sokka frowned. "Looks like we got out voted sport." Sokka looked at everyone else. "Let's get some new clothes."

Kuseron didn't move as everyone began to file out of the cave. Toph stopped to look back at him. "Aren't you coming Mr. Dark?" The rest of the Gaang stopped, questioning glances at him quickly.

"Don't need new clothes. I'll fit in perfectly." He pointed down at his garments.

He had been wearing Black, red and some gold since he had been little. He wouldn't have to change clothes. There was no point in doing so... "You should come along anyways, we're going to town." Aang mused. The Shadowbender shrugged a shoulder and stood. _Whatever._

They crossed over the island and came across outfits that were out in the open. Kuseron raised a brow slightly, "Huh. Must've been born in the Fire Nation..." He muttered to himself. Sokka looked at him, raising a brow. "Now that you mention it, you're clothes does seem really similar to that one..." The water tribe boy pointed across at some outfit. _Thanks, Captain Obvious._

"I don't know about this. These are somebody's clothes." Aang muttered.

Katara was gone quickly. "I call the silk robe!"

Aang was a bit more hesitant but shrugged, "But if it essential to our survival... I call the suit!"

Kuseron walked through the outfits, ignoring them as he went along. He had no real reason to get new clothes. Although, the ones he had now were a bit worn... He stopped by the exact same clothes as the ones he wore now, looking between everything and then plucked it off. He pulled darkness around him and quickly changed, placing his old clothes on the hooks and then walked over to the man, placing a bag of coins on the deck quietly. He had found a stash of Fire nation money on the ship. Kudos for him.

He came up behind Toph as she was speaking. "Hmm... I should really wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see." She looked like she was contemplating a few things before she sat down, and pulled on the shoe. "Sorry shoes!" One sole flew straight into Sokka's face. The boy had a nice red mark on his face. Kuseron snickered a bit.

Toph stood and moved her feet a bit. "Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind Earthbender." She mused.

Katara came walking up, looking like the goddess he had met at the Earth King's party. Aang blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "How do I look?" Katara asked with a small smile.

"Oh... Uh..." Aang ruined the chance for himself. "Your mother's necklace."

Katara looked down and frowned slowly. "Oh. Yeah. I guess it's obviously water tribe."

She removed the necklace and began to put it in a pocket but He stepped forward. "Hold on Sweetcheeks..." He took the necklace from her hand, she glanced at him skeptically. Kuseron turned her around, pulling out the hair band she was currently using at the moment and replaced it with her water tribe necklace. "There. Nobody will be able to tell its there." He tucked the small trinket behind her hair. Katara faced him, "Thanks."

They made their way to the city, where they bought small trinkets to replace the ones for hair and neck. Katara bought a new necklace, Sokka bought a pin to hold his hair up in and Toph bought what could only be describe as a tiara to him. Kuseron was busy looking at some instruments, but he was pulled aside into an alleyway. They were discussing names. "We need different names." Sokka muttered.

Kuseron spoke first. "You can call me Kue." He muttered.

Sokka looked at him. "Kue? Why Kue?"

"Because it's short for Kue'sorn. That was my... Father's name." Kuseron replied with a small frown. He had found out on the boat, that he had _once_ had a family. His father's name had been Kue'sorn. He had been named after his father. The letters had been rearranged.

"I thought you didn't have a family." Toph muttered.

"I thought so too." Kuseron grumbled.

Aang decided to butt in. "I used to visit my friend Kuseon here, a hundred years ago," He paused, looking out into the courtyard. "So everyone follow me lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the fire nation, 'Stay flaming'."

Kuseron lifted a brow. _Right. That was a hundred years ago bud._ Nevertheless, he followed after the four with his trademark scowl.

"Greetings! My good hotman." Aang mused as he passed a man eating something off a stick. Sokka shrugged as he passed the man. The man watched them, "Uhm... Hi. I guess." Kuseron stopped, looking at the man. "He's a bit excited, it's his first time away from the colonies." He muttered and walked away.

They stopped outside a restaurant, and Aang was obviously displeased. "Oh. We're going to a meat place?"

Kuseron rolled his eyes. Right, he forgot... Aang was a freaking vegetarian. Sokka shrugged. "C'mon Aang, everyone here eats meat... Even the meat." Kuseron saw a cow-hippo eat some kind of animal meat. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"You guys go ahead. I'll go get lettuce out of the garbage." Aang was left alone as everyone else filed into the restaurant.

Kuseron sat down at one of the tables. He wasn't that hungry in the first place. Everyone quickly ate and then turned to go back out. When they exited, Katara quietly spoke. "Where's Aang?"

"Twinkletoes is probably roaming around the market. We'll split up and see if we can find him." Toph mused.

And so they split up. Toph tagged along with him. He wasn't really searching for Aang, wasn't really worried for the kid. Even if Aang was technically his elder. Right now, he was the eldest of the group. He was 15. Somehow, he knew that someone else would join their group that would be older than him.

"Kuse?" Toph mused as they stopped by a small fountain. Kuseron glanced at her before looking down at his reflection. "Yeah?"

He knew what was coming. She was probably going to ask about his family... He hardly knew anything from the memory he had seen, so he knew little. "I thought you grew up on the streets, why are you revealing now, that you had a family?"

Kuseron walked forward again. "I thought I didn't have a family, but I've been having dreams, premonitions of them. I only found out a little while ago," He sighed. "Been meditating on it for a while, but nothing comes around."

Toph grunted in response but said nothing negative to him. "Why don't you remember them?"

Kuseron shook his head, stopping at an instrument stall. "I don't know why..." He began to browse through the instruments. Fascinating... He had a knack for music. Kuseron pulled out a bag of money, looking down at one of the Lutes. "How much for this Lute, kind sir?" The man turned to him and smiled as he crossed over to him. The Lute was a fretted, eight-string instrument with violin-style tuning pegs, it's struts looked like the head and neck of a dragon. It was a nice Lute, vaguely reminded him of his friend's Lyre.

"Why this Lute is 5 gold pieces son." Kuseron dipped his head in acknowledgment. He picked the Lute up, strumming down the strings. It was a dreamy note that escaped it. He smiled softly. It would be nice to have something like this. "Alright, here." He held out 5 gold pieces to the man. The transaction was made and he took the Lute with a small happy air to himself. Toph was watching him in confusion.

"It's for a hobby, I can't really be a thief around here, now can I?" He mused softly.

The Earthbender shook her head. "Then where did you get the bag of money?"

He shushed her and they took off back to where they began. Sokka and Katara were waiting for them. "You bought a musical instrument instead of looking for Aang?" Sokka asked, he looked dumbstruck. Kuseron gave a small shrug, he really did not care.

"It's not going to matter, let's just go back home." Katara muttered half-heartedly.

They returned to the cave that they were prematurely calling home. Kuseron leaned into his furry buddy, Chiel licked his hand before he sat down, and began to play the Lute. The music was beautiful, once he had the hang of it. [If you want to know what he was playing: watch?v=0WRrFWQzipk&feature=related ]

Kuseron sighed placing his Lute away after a time. Now he was slightly worried as to where Aang was. The Airbender was missing. It was almost nighttime.

He almost jumped when he heard what sounded like a zooming something... The Shadowbender lifted his head to the entrance of the cave and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Aang was a mess and well, he looked tired out. "Where have you been?" Katara was looking at the monk with a frown. "We've been worried sick!"

"I got invited to play with some kids after school." Aang replied. Kuseron's mouth dropped open. School? What? What was wrong with this picture? Aang had gone to school? School? Of all the things he could have done? School? Everyone must have been agreeing with his shocked face because they were equally surprised as well. Sokka, who had been laying down, was suddenly up like a plank. "After what?" He cried.

Aang was exceedingly happy about this. "I enrolled myself in a fire nation school." He placed his hands on his hips. "And I'm going back tomorrow."

Sokka gripped his head. "ENROLLED IN WHAT?" The boy fell backwards in a slight faint.

Kuseron rolled his eyes and began to pick at the Lute again, humming under his breath. "Let him live a little, besides he might learn something." He picked lightly at the strings, playing minor chords. Sokka was back up and everyone was situated to talk to him, he was leaning against Toph's rock seat, picking at the chords.

"Aang, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea," Sokka paused. "But it sounds really terrible."

"Yeah. We got our outfits. What do you need to go to school for?" Toph asked.

Kuseron grinned to himself, lifting his head from the lute to look at Aang. "Hey, he can at least make up for the education I missed when I was little." Sokka glared at him. Katara blinked. Toph grinned slowly at his remark. "Every minute I'm in that classroom, I'm learning new things about the Fire nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." Aang pulled out a picture of the man. Kuseron shied away from the picture slightly, messing up his Lute music as he did. The Shadowbender scowled. Fear was a nasty thing. "And here's one I made out of noodles."

He couldn't help but chuckle. Sokka glared at the picture skeptically. "Impressive, I admit..." Sokka put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "But I still think it's too dangerous."

"Well I guess then we'll never learn about the secret river..." Aang said slyly. Kuseron grinned. That was thief tactics right there. "It goes right to the Firelord's palace, we _were_ supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow."

Sokka went into deep thought for a few minutes. "I am a fan of secret rivers..." He narrowed his blue eyes. "Ok. I guess we can stay for a few more days."

Aang stood triumphantly. "Flame-o Hotman!" He cried into the open air. Kuseron paused in his music, blinking a few times to understand this concept of 'Flame-o'. He shook his head after a moment. _Whatever. It's not like I need to know._ He strummed down the strings before sighing, leaning his head into Toph's leg. She looked down at him, even if it served her no purpose. "What's Flame-o mean?" She mused softly.

Kuseron grunted. "Don't know..." He stood and crossed over to Chiel, where he sat down into his friend and curled into the furry beast, slowly falling asleep.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had slept that day, but he and Toph were the only two in the cave when he woke. He stretched out with a yawn. "What did I miss?"

Toph lifted her head. "Well Aang seems to have gotten into trouble when he went to school today. Katara and Sokka went to the school to act like his parents... You can ask them yourselves when they get here." The blind earthbender leaned into her rock chair and closed her eyes. "Are you alright Toph?" He asked, rolling across the floor and over to her side.

She looked down at him. "I'm fine. It's just a bit boring."

He pushed himself up a bit on his elbows, frowning a bit. "Do you—"

He was cut off rudely when Sokka, Katara and Aang appeared out of thin air. Sokka was bristling with a... Fake beard? Kuseron raised a brow and watched the new scene unfold. "That's it young man! No more school for you!" Sokka cried, stroking his beard.

Aang frowned. "I'm not ready to leave. I'm having fun for once," He kicked a small pebble. "Being a real kid. You don't know what it's like Sokka. You get to be normal, all the time..."

Kuseron grinned. That was below the belt. Insulting Sokka's nonbending abilities... Toph too, grinned. "Ha-ah~" She said in a sing-song voice. Sokka glared at her. "Listen guys. Those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation, if we want to change this place for the better, we need to show them a little bit of freedom." Aang muttered.

Kuseron picked up his Lute, strumming a few chords. "And what do you think we should do?" He asked, lifting his blood red gaze to the Air Nomad.

Sokka shrugged. "Yeah. What could you do for a country of depraved little Fire Monsters...?"

Aang did a little step dance as he spoke. "I'm going to throw them a secret dance party!" The Shadowbender sputtered and messed up his music, looking up at Aang again. "This guy says, What?"

Sokka lifted a hand, slightly angry by his look. "Go to your room!"

This was so sad... He hardly paid any attention to the argument that ensued, well, until his name popped up. "And Kuseron could play his Lute along with the band!" The Shadowbender plucked at another chord, trying to ignore the glares. Then, with a yelp, he fell backwards as the rock chair disappeared. Toph grinned slightly at him. They were already setting up for the Party... _Why are we going through this?_

He sighed. "Do I have to play?" He grumbled.

The Shadowbender didn't have a choice in the matter...

"I can't believe we're having a dance party," Sokka trailed off for a moment, frowning. "It seems so... Silly." He shrugged.

The Avatar turned to Sokka with a bright smirk. "Don't think of it as a dance party," He paused. Kuseron couldn't help but snicker as Aang began to do a little dance again. "Think of it as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork."

Toph froze and looked at everyone else. "Everyone stop bending! They're coming."

Kuseron took up a position on the stage, but drew shadows around him, just to wait and watch. The band filed onto the stage and Kuseron found himself beside another Lute player, but she couldn't see him. He smirked slightly as they began to play, playing his own melody that fit rather perfectly with it. The Girl beside him blinked as she tried to figure out where the other Lute was coming from but only turned her attention to Aang as he announced them. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Flame-os!"

"Yeah... This ought to get everyone moving..." Nobody was moving. Aang turned around to face the crowd.

One boy stepped forward, a frown on his face. "Now what do we do?"

"This is when you start dancing." Aang replied with a beaming smile.

One boy shrunk into his uniform slightly, "I don't think my parents would want me dancing in a cave."

Another boy hopped forward. "Yeah! What if someone finds out?" What a bunch of wimps... Kuseron sighed to himself, keeping to the music he was playing. What was Aang going to do?

"Oh boy..." The Air nomad rubbed his head. "Look guys, dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self expression that no one can ever take away from you."

"Maybe it was different in the colonies Kuseon, but we don't do that here." One boy mumbled.

Aang frowned, but spoke again. "Sure you do..." He threw his hands up. "You have for generations. It so happens that I know several classic Fire Nation dances."

Aang began to do some fancy footwork alright... "A Hundred years ago, this was called the Phoenix Flight." He looked like one of those lizards that ran across the ground on its two back feet.

"And this..." He went side to side doing whatever the thing was. "Was the chamelephant strut."

Kuseron rose from his shadows, surprising the other girl, but he only flashed her a sweet smile, strumming on his Lute as he watched the Air Nomad dance more. There was mixed reactions from the crowds. The girls were giggling and the boys were absolutely in awe.

Aang flipped over to one girl and took her hand, pulling her along into the middle where he began to do a typical Earth Kingdom dance. He knew it well because it was often sported in the palace... "And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se." The girl joined him and Kuseron caught Katara looking a bit jealous. Others began to join in slowly. "Yeah! That's it... That's the sound of happy feet."

"Alright! Go with that!" Aang cried.

Kuseron slipped away from the stage. He didn't want to play Lute for the whole time. It would seem a bit absurd of him to stand there like an idiot. He walked over to where Toph was. "Hey." He said with a smile. Toph looked up at him. "What's up?" He rolled his eyes. "I think you know why I'm here." He mused lightly, placing his Lute down.

Toph shook her head. "I can't dance." She replied.

He took her hand and pulled her up onto her feet. "So? Just stand on top of my toes..."

The blind girl blushed slightly and took his other hand, stepping gingerly on top of his feet. He chuckled slightly, swaying to the music. "See? You _can_ dance." He teased slightly. Toph looked at him prudently before leaning her head into his chest. "Thanks." She murmured softly. He almost didn't catch it.

"No problem..." He remarked.

Although, the dance ended quickly, because the teachers had showed up. It was such a rush and blur... Kuseron hardly had time to grab his Lute, be he was still able too of course.

They were in air quite quickly. Katara was glaring across at her brother. "We're safe now Sokka... You can take the mustache off now."

Sokka began to stroke the beard. "Oh no, I can't... It's permanently glued to my skin."

Kuseron snickered to himself before tugging on the beard as hard as he could. Chiel made an effort to help him by pulling on his shirt. Sokka's beard popped off with a loud scream from him. Everyone laughed. The Shadowbender put the mustache to his face and pursed his lips. "Look how much of a doofus I am!" He mocked his friend lightly before throwing the beard into the air, Sokka tried to go after it but he missed it and the beard was gone.

"Way to go dancypants." Toph mused. "I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free." She turned to look at him. Kuseron grinned to himself, unbeknownst to the others. Aang shrugged half-heartedly. "I don't know, it was just a dance party after all."

"Well that was some dance party Aang." Katara crawled over to the monk and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Kuseron let a smile tug his lips upwards, he strummed on his Lute a bit, picking up a slow tune. Sokka was clapping. "Flame-o sir, Flame-o."

Kuseron ran a hand through his hair, as Toph crawled over to him and sat down beside him. "You're really good at that." She murmured.

He looked down at her. "Thanks. I think..." He trailed off for a moment. "I think my Mother used to play."

The blind girl frowned at this but curled up against him. Maybe... Kuseron set his Lute aside, the others were already falling asleep as well. He slipped his arm around Toph, who smiled slightly in her slightly sleepy self. The Shadowbender took in a deep breath before leaning his head against hers.

This was the beginning of a relationship, well sought out...

* * *

**[1] After watching the first episode many times over, I could only decipher that Toph said 'Load the Toph'. It is what it sounds like to me, but if one of you guys know what she actually says, don't be afraid to tell me! I don't bite... Much.**

**[2] This was Kuseron's doing, but it wasn't actually him at the same time... He was on the deck during the whole scene with the Fire Nation ship, because well... Who could sleep through all that racket? Kuseron had manipulated the Shadows into the form of a person and helped Toph not get hurt.**

**[3] Kuseron has fuzzy memories for a reason. He's a Shadowbender for a reason. I'm make this all to intricate, but I will explain a bit now. My lovely Oc harbors a dark spirit inside him. His spirit and the other spirit often fight for control, the other spirit, which I am now dubbing MURMUR, usually wins a lot. So Kuseron is going to have to go through the process of discovering this spirit and discovering who he really is and why he is a Shadowbender. There. All of it in a nutshell.**

**Love it, Hate it, Review it... IDC it. Stuff it up where the sun doesn't shine for all I care. [Lol. I'm rude...] And it is rated T for a reason. There will be language in future chapters.**

**THANKS!**


	8. Murmurs in the Wind

**20 pages, and all for my Readers! Enjoy it! I'm taking a break.**

* * *

"Oh my Gods! What the hell is that smell?" He scrunched his nose up in disgust. Where the hell were they? Kuseron didn't give a second glance to Toph as he shifted roughly. He had to figure out where the rotten eggs were coming from. The Shadowbender shifted and looked down at the river they were floating in. He felt himself go green. "What is that shit?" He groaned. This wasn't a river! No way in heaven and hell it could be! Toph looked at him with eyebrows raised. He had tried to take another nap, but this was sick! A river full of whatever that stuff was... He pinched his nose, slowly slumping into Appa's saddle. "I'm going to be sick..." What was even worse was that Aang was playing in it!

"Momo!" The monk called to his winged lemur before he dove under the sludge looking water.

Kuseron placed a hand over his mouth before scrambling for a side. Spirits have mercy on him! His blood red eyes stared down at the sludge for a second before he just shrunk back into the saddle, slumping down against Toph, who was frowning slightly. She let him rest his head in her lap without much protest, only sighing. "Are you alright?"

Kuseron shook his head. "I've got a sensitive nose." That didn't explain anything much... It was true though. He couldn't stand some smells, this was worse than the sewers in Ba Sing Se.

Sokka was quietly fishing. The Shadowbender didn't know why he would even think about doing so, the river was so gunged up that the fish were all probably dead and gone. Katara was probably mentally agreeing with him, since she too, was looking at the water.

"Oh Momo!" Aang and the winged lemur kept playing in the shit that was called a river. "Heh! You found me buddy!" The Air nomad suddenly appeared on the saddle, looking quite a mess. Kuseron felt himself once again begin to grow green. This was bad... Very Bad.

"Hey guys, I think this river is polluted." Aang muttered, looking down at himself.

The next second, sludge was slung across his face. Everyone groaned in protest, Toph smacked her lips. He covered his mouth once again and scrambled across Appa and down his tail a bit, before... regurgitating last night's leftovers. Aang quickly airbended the sludge off of everyone else and then did that same for him. Kuseron glared at the Avatar. "I hate you." He grounded out before slowly climbing back to where Toph was, slumping back down and laying his head in her lap. "Well that explains why I can't catch a fish around here..." Sokka pulled out his hook, grinning. "Because my fishing skills are usually off the hook!"

"Get it? Cause it's a fishing hook!" Sokka was pointing at the silver. Toph sighed, giving a small grin. "Too bad your skills aren't _on_ the hook." He chuckled lightly at this, his momentary sickness gone. The Shadowbender lifted a hand up, "Why, of all the places, do we pick the most horrible places to go?" Toph looked down at him, she ran a hand through his hair.

Katara shifted from her spot. "It looks like we'll have to go somewhere else to find food." She paused as Sokka unrolled his very long schedule. "Assuming that it'll fit into Sokka's master schedule."

Kuseron glared at Sokka. "Hmm..." He stared at his list. "It's doable, but that means only two potty breaks today."

"To hell with your schedule you idiot!" Kuse growled and sat up. "Can we _please_ go somewhere else?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes at the Shadowbender. He paid him no heed, only following Aang as he spoke. "Maybe we can get food there." The air nomad was pointing at a small village in the middle... of the sludge. Kuseron sighed mentally, picking up his Lute. So much for leaving. He plucked at a few strings while they waited for Appa to get to land.

"I think I want to stay here..." He grumbled as Aang finished preparing the grass covering for Appa.

"You'll be fine Kuseron." Katara said in a somewhat soothing voice.

He adjusted the strap on his Lute. He was going to bring it along for something to do while they bought food and what not. Aang brought the grass covering over to Appa, grinning slightly before he jumped over the furry beast and hid him underneath the grass covering. Kuseron looked down at Chiel, "You know what to do if someone comes around here..." The Armadillo-Wolf cocked his head before letting out a whine. The Shadowbender rolled his eyes, walking after the others.

"I don't feel anything. Where is this village?" Toph asked, looking to him and then to everyone else.

Sokka pointed outwards. "It's in the middle of the river!"

Kuseron shifted a bit before looking down as someone spoke up to them. "Sure is! My name's Dock! Mind if I ask who you are?" The man mused with a slightly toothless grin. Katara looked between everyone before responding to the man. "We're from the Earth Kingdom Colonies..."

"Wow! Colonials." Dock motioned down at his little boat, raft, floating thing... "Hop on! I'll give you a ride into town!"

They climbed down the small hill and Katara, Sokka and Aang quickly got situated. Kuseron stepped on gingerly before turning back to Toph, holding his hands out to her. "It's alright." He muttered softly. The blind girl gazed back into his eyes, apart of him flinched inwardly, He wished she could see... It was a stupid wish, nobody could fix blindness. Only sometimes did he wish she could see. Toph took his hands slowly before she stepped forward. He guided her onto the boat before they both sat down together, she clung to his arm tightly.

They slowly began to cross towards the town. Katara gave a small frown before she spoke up. "Why do you guys live on the river?" Dock lifted his long pole, swinging it over their heads. Kuseron had hoped it would hit Sokka, but the boy ducked out of the way. "Because we're a fishing town." Dock replied. They passed an opening, a different part of the river. There was a large factory at the edge of one cliff. "At least, we were until the factory moved in. Army makes their metal there, moved in a few years ago and started gunging up our river."

The man sighed as he pushed on. "And now our little village it struggling to survive." Aang and Katara looked between one another. Toph leaned her head against his shoulder, and he leaned his against her head. This poor village. He wondered how many people were actually here. They reached the little village in no time... Kuse couldn't help but frown at all the people who looked sick. He stepped up onto the wooden deck, latching his hand onto Toph's arm before he pulled her up. _All these people... And just because of one factory._ Toph hung onto his arm as they began to walk. Aang waved back at Dock. "Thanks for the ride."

"Look at this place... It's so sad." Katara murmured. She was looking at some sick kid, a frown adorned her face as they walked. She didn't like this either. "We have to do something to help." Sokka zoomed over to her sister and glared at her with a frown that read, 'NO'. Her brother pursed his lips, "No! We can't waste our time here." He stepped away. "We have a bigger mission that we _have_ to stay focused on."

Kuseron let his eye twitch. "I hate to burst your bubble, but I have to agree. These people are sick and the longer they're here, the worse they get..." He said quickly.

Sokka turned to glare at him. "Yeah? Well, these people on their own!" He asked with malice in his voice.

Kuseron lifted his head, ready to berate the boy for his ignorance but Katara stepped after him as he turned to walk away. "These people are starving, and you can turn your back on them? How can you be so cold and heartless?" She hissed at her brother.

"I'm not turning my back! I'm just being realistic!" Sokka bit back.

Kuseron narrowed his blood red eyes. "We have weeks until the _day_! We can at least try to change this place for the better!"

Sokka shook his head. "We can't stop in every town and do them a favor!" He threw his hands out to the side. Kuseron stepped forward with a growl rumbling from his chest. "Besides, we'll be helping them by taking out the Firelord!" Toph slapped a hand over Sokka's mouth. The Idiot! He just had to say that out loud didn't he? "Hey Loudmouth! Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Firelord." She grounded out at the boy.

"C'mon you two, be reasonable about this. You guys know our mission has to come first..." Sokka had a point, but Kuseron couldn't stand it. These people reminded him of the people in the Outer ring and the Undercity. He didn't want to stand by like this.

Katara stared at the ground for a second, admitting defeat hesitantly. "I guess so."

Aang stepped forward, ready to calm down the atmosphere. "Let's just get what we need and go."

Toph wrapped her arms back around his arm and they slowly went towards the middle of the village. The earthbender had something on her mind, Kuseron could tell. She was just hesitant on speaking her mind. "Why?" She paused for a moment. "Why do you want to help these people?"

He looked down at her, pausing in his steps. "They remind me of the people down in the Undercity and the Outer ring..." He replied.

Toph nodded slowly, understanding why he was so upset and tense. The Shadowbender was thinking of plans, maybe he could do something to help this little village. Maybe he could steal away in the night and take out the Factory. He'd have enough power to do so. It would be night, his time...

A boy ran up to him, tugging lightly at his shirt. "Hey mister... Can you play that thing?" The boy pointed at his Lute. Kuseron smiled slightly. It was a small bit of joy that radiated inside him. "Of course I can. Do you want to hear some?" He asked, bending down and pulling his Lute around. Toph sat down beside him, not protesting as to why he had to do this. Though it probably crossed her mind.

Kuseron strummed down on his Lute before plucking the chords in the manner of a story, a cool, winter's day story. [Link to Music: watch?v=c2TFDt7QH7E&feature=relmfu ] The song was short, but the young boy loved it. The Shadowbender slung his Lute back around on his back, rubbing the boy's head and messing up his black hair. "You take it easy now." He murmured and stood, pulling Toph along with him to where the other were. Aang, Sokka and Katara all looked highly disgusted, so he stayed back. Whatever it was, was probably going to make him sick. "We'll just take the fish..." Sokka said. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?"

Dock... Or whoever this guy was, wrapped up the package and then disappeared underneath the counter for a second before popping back up. "Hey Colonials." Kuseron let his brows furrow. What was that? "My brother says you need a lift." Dock mused happily, hopping over the counter and walking off towards the raft they had used to get here. Kuseron watched as a young boy with a burn on his left shoulder run up to Katara, "Can you spare some food?"

Katara bent down in front of the little boy. "I wish I could help more..." She handed the boy a fish. He ran back to his mother, a sickly woman who only smiled reassuringly at her son. The Shadowbender's eyes softened at this but he turned, and walked along with Toph. When they arrived back at their camp, it was almost dusk. He watched silently as Toph, Aang and Katara worked together to remove the grime from the water. "Our detour today has completely thrown off our schedule. It going to take some serious finagling to get back onto track..." Sokka took a cup of water and flapped out his schedule. Toph crossed over to Kuseron. "Finagle away O' Schedule Master." She muttered and sat down beside him, leaning back into Chiel.

Kuseron sighed as he listened to Sokka's droning voice. "Well, for starters it looks like we're going to have to wake up 43 minutes earlier..." Katara handed out bowls of water, which he gladly took and drank down pretty quickly. He smacked his lips, tuning them out as they droned on about the schedule.

Toph leaned into his suddenly, "Well I'm not waking up early."

Sokka crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. "Or we could cut out all our eating breaks."

"What!" Katara glared at her brother.

"No way!" Aang looked half afraid.

"Forget it!" Toph pushed away from him, anger written on her face.

Kuseron picked up one end up the Schedule. "I'm tempted to rip this in half." Sokka quickly pulled it away from him and scowled. Kuse sniffed and leaned back into his furry buddy. _The absurdity of this crap._ He sighed mentally. Sokka began to think quickly before smirking to himself. "I've got it, we'll take our food breaks _and_ potty breaks at the same time!"

Katara pulled her bowl of water away from her mouth before she choked. Aang spat out his water and Toph glared in Sokka's general direction... "Ew" rattling its way around in the air.

The Shadowbender grunted, his own scowl growing. What was this guy's problem? They'd be on track in no time. They didn't have to change anything... "Hey, It might be gross but it's efficient." Sokka mused, beginning to gather up his Schedule. "Either way, we have to leave here tomorrow morning."

Kuseron curled into Chiel as everyone settled down to sleep, Toph curled into him and they resumed their small position that they usually fell asleep with. His arm wrapped itself around her waist and she curled into his chest. The others didn't seem to notice much since they pretended like it always happened over night while they slept... Kuseron nuzzled into her hair, smiling to himself as Toph slapped him on the shoulder quietly.

"Sleep tight..." He whispered.

* * *

The next morning was not going according to Sokka's plan. Apparently Appa had gotten sick over the course of the night...

"What's a matter Katara?" Aang asked as he hopped down from the little hill he had been sleeping on.

"I think Appa's sick..." The Waterbender replied.

Kuseron trailed along after Toph, coming to stand by her and let his eyes slowly inspect the beast. Appa didn't sound well either. _He must have gotten sick from the polluted water..._

Sokka popped out of nowhere. "What? Appa's sick!" He ran over to the flying bison. "That's awful!"

Kuseron turned to look at Sokka. He could tell the warrior wasn't thinking about Appa. He was thinking about his damn schedule. "Wow Sokka, didn't think you cared so much." Toph remarked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her arm.

"Of Course I care!" Sokka replied and pulled out his schedule. "I might as well throw away our schedule now!"

The Shadowbender drew in an outraged breath, ready to pummel the idiot but Toph grabbed his shirt, knowing all too well what would happen if Kuse got a hold of Sokka. "You and your damn schedule!" He hissed through clenched teeth, struggling to grab the Water tribe boy.

Sokka looked surprised. "And I'm concerned," He ran over to Appa, stroking the bison as he spoke. "That our big furry friend isn't feeling well."

Kuseron snorted in disgust. He was so infuriating! How did they stand him sometimes? "He must have gotten sick from being in the polluted water..." Toph said. Aang went to examining his flying bison. The Air nomad narrowed his eyes. "He doesn't look sick." He ran a hand over his bison, "You okay buddy?"

Appa let out a groan, opening his mouth to reveal a... Purple tongue. Kuseron raised a brow. The poor creature's tongue was Purple. How did that happen? "His tongue is purple!" Aang cried as he pulled Appa's tongue out of his mouth, falling onto his butt. "That can't be good." The monk turned his head to Katara, who was gazing cautiously at the purple tongue. "Katara? Can you heal him?" She stepped forward, running a hand over the beast's tongue. She didn't speak good news. "It looks like he needs medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."

They made their way to the dock, where Dock was waiting for them. He happily took them across the river and to town. When they got there, the village seemed like a whole new place... Livelier if that was what it was to be described as. Toph hung onto him a bit but had decided to walk along on her own, seeming a bit confident of where she was going. "Is it just me or does this place seem... different?" Different was an inadequate word.

"Yeah. Are the people happier?" Aang muttered.

They walked towards the market, where Dock, or Dock's brother was waiting for them. "Hey Shu, what happened last night?" The Water tribe warrior asked.

Kuseron didn't care to listen, for the same young boy who had come to him the other day, ran up to him. Other kids followed him. "There he is! I told you he would come back!" The boy spoke quickly and happily. The Shadowbender smiled down at the boy. "Brought me an audience I see."

The boy tugged on his shirt. "Can you play some music again?" He asked.

Kuseron chuckled, "Of course." He sat down in front of the group of kids. They gathered in a small circle near him, curious faces waiting for the music to be played. He started out slowly, plucking a few chords at a time before playing the real piece. [Another! watch?v=cUEGKpgYbso&feature=relmfu ] The song wasn't long like the one he had played the other day, but just a bit longer than the other. He smiled as the kids enjoyed the melody. They seemed eager to hear more when he was finished but Toph placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry little ones, I have to go." He murmured.

Most of the kids cried out in protest and he too, wanted to stay but he left with the others.

* * *

[This is Katara's POV]

[1]There was so much she could do for this little village. She quickly pulled on her veiled hat, making sure that everything was perfectly ready and in character. She was the Painted Lady. The spirit that watched over the village. She took in a deep breath, slinking away from the camp site. There was so much. Katara sniffed, she had given them food the other day and now tonight, she was going to heal the sick.

Katara quickly broke for the water but gasped when she bumped into someone. The Darkness hid them well...

"Slowly fading away, You're lost and so afraid. Where is the hope, in a world so cold?" A dark, cold whisper escaped the person's lips.

She stared into the familiar blood red eyes of Kuseron's. The Shadowbender took a step forward. He didn't seem like himself at all. Why was he up anyways? She had seen him fall asleep with his pet! "Looking for a distant light, Someone who can save a life. Living in fear that no one will hear your cry, Can you save me now?" He whispered. Katara took a step backwards.

"K-Kuseron? What are you doing up?" She asked.

The boy looked her over with an emotionless mask. "I was going to ask you the same thing... Painted Lady." His voice sounded dead.

Katara slumped her shoulders, pulling off her veiled hat. "I guess you know."

The Shadowbender huffed. "I know you fed Appa berries that turns his tongue purple, I know _you_ were the one who delivered the food the other night, I know that you _are_ the Painted Lady."

She looked at him. "I can't help it! I have to help them. They seemed so desperate!" Katara whispered.

Kuseron scowled slowly. "You are a mockery to the spirits, acting like the Painted Lady. You should be struck down for such disgrace, but..." He paused. "Your travesty isn't on purpose, it's selfless and reasonable."

Katara blinked. _Why is he acting so strange?_ He was speaking as if he was a spirit. She opened her mouth to speak but the Shadowbender cut her off. "I will help you tonight, but know that you won't be able to keep them save from everything." He hissed.

Katara took a moment to take this in before they both left to go to the village.

* * *

Once again they were back at the village, and this time... It really was festive. Kuseron yawned, stretching out as he walked. He had no idea why he was so tired today. He walked silently beside Toph, who finally had the hang of the village now. Still, he'd be there just in case she fell or something.

"Hi Dock. Is Shu around?" Sokka asked as they walked up to the market. Shu was cleaning up a Painted Lady statue. Kuse stared at it for a moment before watching Shu pop up out of nowhere.

"Hey there! Back again are ya?" It had to be the same person, because this was all absurd that Dock was pretending to be Shu and Shu was pretending to be Dock... He couldn't fully wrap his head around it, because either they _were_ brothers or Dock had some serious brain damage. Toph stepped forward, placing money on the counter. "We need more food, our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he feels better."

Shu placed a plate of oozing clams on the counter. "Oh well, that's too bad. Maybe if you're lucky, the Painted Lady will visit your friend and heal him in the night." He drank from a ladle. Sokka was silently inspecting the clams.

Kuseron sighed, leaning his head down on Toph's shoulder. "Now can we leave?" He muttered. The blind girl lightly patted him on the head. Kuseron had no excuse to be sleepy, but he was... Either he was starting to sleep walk, or he just woke up wrong. "And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack! And we'll all have a sing along." Sokka grumbled.

"Yeah! Maybe!" Shu replied with a big grin. "You know, last night she visited us again and healed most of our sick folks."

Aang was looking at a group of people, they were putting up a large statue of the Painted Lady. "Is that why this place seems so festive?"

Kuseron tuned out everything else they said, having to be dragged back to the camp by Toph because he was so tired.

He groaned as he was flopped down against Chiel, who backed up in surprise. "Kill me..."

Toph sat down beside him, frowning. "Why are you so tired today?"

"Would you believe me if I said, I don't know?" He asked.

Toph raised a brow at him. "No."

Kuseron really had no idea why he was so tired. It felt as if he had ran a hundred miles and then another hundred. Plus, there was a headache coming along. He rolled over onto his side and grabbed Katara's ankle. She jumped back from him. "Do you think you can cure headaches?" He asked.

The Shadowbender wondered why there was slight fear in her eyes. He hadn't done anything had he? "Yeah. Hold still Kuseron..." She bent down beside him and bended the water from her skin pouch, the water encased her hands and she pressed her hand over his head. Kuse sighed softly. "Thanks."

The Waterbender smiled nervously before retracting her hand and walking off to check on Appa.

* * *

Kuseron stretched as he woke, looking down at Toph as She snuggled into his side. He felt so refreshed. Plus, the sun was just rising... It was completely perfect. Licking his dry lips, he lightly nestled his face into Toph's hair. "Wakey, Wakey..." He hummed lightly. The earthbender shifted a bit and did not wake. The Shadowbender let a smile tug his lips upwards. Guess he could rest for a little, until the others woke.

Rest was a peculiar thing, especially for him. Sometimes, the world just didn't want him to sleep.

Sokka let out a surprised yelp. "Where's Katara?"

He groaned, sitting up all the way. Toph too sat up and rubbed her glassy green eyes. "What's wrong Sokka?"

"My Sister! She's gone!" Sokka growled.

Kuseron stood and shrugged. "So what? She probably took a morning walk or something..."

Sokka picked up Katara's sleeping bag, "Then why is there hay in here?"

Toph pushed past Kuseron, searching for something to eat. Which she eventually found. A bag of purple berries. Kuseron sighed, flicking a hand in a rude manner. "She probably didn't want you to fret over the fact that she had disappeared."

"Twinkletoes is gone too." Toph muttered, throwing a few berries into her mouth.

The Shadowbender sniffed, "So they went together." He looked at Sokka, who was still gazing warily at the bag, as if expecting Katara to pop up inside it. "See? They're fine."

Kuse turned to Toph to get some berries, but stopped. _That looks familiar..._ He rubbed his eyes to make sure. The blind girl's tongue was... Purple? "Hey Sokka, you probably want to come see this..." Toph looked at him, confusion written in her eyes. "Toph, open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

"Why?" She asked.

"Just do it." He commanded. Toph did as she was told. Sokka was surprised. He was even surprised.

Kuseron shifted slightly. "This must be why Appa has been so sick."

Sokka looked at him then to Toph. "This was her doing..."

As if cue, Katara and Aang appeared. The two were talking quietly between one another and they stopped when they spotted the angry Water tribe boy, the blind earthbender and the confused Shadowbender. "Hi... Sokka!" Katara said nervously, grinning a bit. Kuseron shook his head. She was doomed. Sokka was radiating with his anger. He was pretty sure he could cook some meat from the way the boy was radiating right now. "We were just out on a morning walk..."

"Oh? Really? A Morning walk?" Sokka sounded accusatory and he shook Katara's sleeping bag. Hay fell out onto the ground and the water tribe boy dropped, grimacing. "I know you're the Painted Lady! I know you've been sneaking out at night and I know you have been lying to everybody and feeding Appa purpulizing tongue berries!" Sokka pointed to Toph, who stuck out her tongue. It had turned completely purple.

Kuseron rolled his eyes. Momo crawled up her and started to eat some of the berries. "Katara, what you did jeopardized our whole mission!" And to end his rant, Sokka crossed his arms. "We are leaving right now!"

"Sokka, I know she was keeping us from going anywhere, but She was doing what she thought was right." Sokka looked at him, drawing in a breath to berate him but he lifted a hand.

"I will rip you in half if you dare to talk to me like a child."

Sokka took this into consideration before turning to Aang as the two culprits walked towards the campsite. "How long did _you_ know about this?"

Aang shook his head. "Hey, I just found out this morning." He darted away as soon as he said that, getting away from Wrathful Sokka. Kuseron turned to go and pack. He had few things, nothing much. So he was finished before the rest of them. He threw his bag up onto Appa's Saddle and looked down at Chiel. "Not yet, remember?" The Armadillo-wolf whined, ears flopping back as he then pointed out towards the village. He whined again before running off towards the cliff.

"What? Chiel! Come back here!" He ran after his wolf. He only acted this strange when he wanted show him something... Kuseron came to a slide before the cliff. The others following closely on his heels.

"Oh no..." The words were out from behind his lips before his brain could fully taken in the scene. Fire Nation Soldiers were heading towards the village. The others came to a stop quickly and they all ducked down towards the ground. Toph came walking up since she really couldn't see out there. "What's going on?"

"Fire Nation Soldiers are heading towards the village!" Aang cried.

Sokka looked to his sister. "What did you do?"

Kuseron blinked when Katara spoke. "I kind of destroyed their factory." She actually went and did that, even if the warrior had been joking.

"You _what_?"

"Well it was your idea!"

"I was joking!"

Sibling Squabbles... Kuseron shifted, watching as the soldiers grew near the village. Where they going to do something? They couldn't leave the village in need? Or would the 'schedule master' drag them to Appa and make them leave?

"I opted to use spirit magic and made funny noises!" Sokka slammed his palm to his face and groaned. "Did you even think this through? The soldiers are heading there now, and they're going to blame the villagers. They're going there to claim revenge!" Sokka crossed his arms.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" Katara faced her brother, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Leave! Do _nothing_!" Sokka growled back.

Katara was quiet for a moment before she bit back. "No! I will _never ever_ turn my back on those who need me!" She stood, glaring down at Sokka and the rest of them before turning. "I'm going down to the village, and I'm going to do whatever I can."

Kuseron stood slowly. "I'll help you." Katara turned to face him for a moment before nodding. She looked slightly reassured.

"Wait!" Sokka ran past him and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm coming too."

Katara's nostrils had flared in anger again but her gaze had soften. "I thought you didn't want to help."

"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you." Sokka replied.

"Sokka..." Katara trailed off. Her eyes softened more and the anger in her stature disappeared. Kuseron watched with a small smile tugging his lips upwards. "You do have a heart." They made up, with a well deserved hug from both of them.

Aang walked forward to stand beside him. Toph stood beside the Air nomad. Aang was shedding tears like a family member just died. "He... He really does have a heart, doesn't he?" Toph scowled and lifted a fist, slamming it into Aang's shoulder. The Shadowbender took a step back and Aang fell where he had been seconds ago. Kuse sneered slightly, "Affection at it's best."

He caught Toph looking at him with a fist raised to strike but only laughed, ducking under her punch. She crossed her arms and glared at him with her sightless eyes.

"So what's the plan?" Aang said as he stood back up, rubbing his arm with a slight frown.

Sokka shrugged. "I dunno."

Kuseron huffed and shifted to where he was leaning back slightly. "I have a plan, if you guys want to hear it..."

"We don't have time Kuseron! Spit it out!" Katara said quickly.

Kuseron's eyes glassed over for a split second, and he motioned for them to follow him. "It'll be quite simple really. _She_ will pretend to be the Painted Lady once more, but she will have our help again..." He turned back to them as they entered a cave. His glassed over eyes came to rest on Toph. "Toph will use this cave to make what would sound like a large thunder clap, or a 'boom', if you will." Toph grinned slightly and quickly earthbended out a round piece of earth and then a large rock. "Appa, Avatar, will you bring Appa here...?"

Aang nodded and quickly ran off. "Sokka, you will use your flute to make a mystically melody..." The Water tribe boy nodded and ran off to get his flute.

The Shadowbender stepped forward to look Katara in the eye. "You _will_ be the Painted Lady one last time." He hissed in a low voice. The Waterbender nodded slowly. He could see the fear in her eyes. "You will team up with the Avatar, and keep the town from being destroyed, stopping any Firebender in your path."

Katara looked at the ground. "Of course... Kuseron." She tacked on the last part, unsure of what to call him.

Kuseron turned away as she ran off, the Avatar had returned with Appa. "What's Appa going to do?"

"He's going to growl after each time Toph makes a 'boom'." He turned to Toph, the earthbender was already in the horse stance. "Keep it at a slow beat until Katara gets to the Village."

"And what are you going to do?" Sokka asked.

"Make it dark... Very dark." He replied. Kuseron moved to the edge of the cave. Aang was staring at him with a critical glare. Kuseron's tattoos were glowing. The Shadowbender took in a deep breath, _Can I be dreaming once again? I'm reaching helpless I descend, You lead me deeper through this maze. I'm not afraid._ He slowly descended into a stance that looked like a snake ready to strike.

"The time to act is now Avatar!" He hissed, narrowing his eyes as he watched the Fire Nation soldiers round up the people. Kuseron drew his hands to his sides, taking in a deep breath. _I'm lost in you everywhere_

_I run; Everywhere I turn I'm finding something new. Lost in you, something I can't fight, I cannot escape... I could spend my life lost in you._ He took a look back, eyes narrowing at Toph for a second before he turned his attention back down. Aang was giving the signal.

"Now Toph!" He commanded before drawing his hands up to his side, swinging them around to where his hands were palm-to-palm. He drew in another breath before throwing his hands out to the side. The sky grew dark slowly around the village. He slowly moved his hands to his midsection and drew them back to his sides, hands balled into fists.

He turned his head to Sokka. "Now!" The Water tribe boy began to play his flute.

It was all going perfectly. The rest was up to Katara and Aang. He watched as two Soldiers ran off after Aang airbended their headbands off. Katara waterbended two water riders into the far canyon wall that surrounded the village. She was sent into the air by Aang when the head soldier tried to firebend at the Painted Lady. She sent the man skipping across the water afterwards she disappeared into the water and then appeared before the firebender, scowling. "Leave this village and never come back!"

Kuseron released the darkness over the village and drew in a well deserved breath. That was a bit harder than it had seemed. The Shadowbender walked off towards the rafts, quietly getting on with Toph and Sokka. As they made their way across, Sokka asked. "Kuseron, why are your tattoos glowing?" He looked down at his hands and flipped his hand over, the eye blinked before the light faded and the tattoos dimmed. "It was nothing..." He replied.

He helped Toph up onto the deck, watching as the crowd cheered and whistled. The Painted Lady had saved their lives. One boy said, "I knew you'd come." Kuse smiled at that. They had a since of hope. He rubbed his nose before watching Dock walk up to Katara. "Thank you! Me and My brothers really owe you a lot." The odd man smiled.

Then... Well. Things got ugly.

"Hey, wait! I know you! You're that colonial girl, not the Painted Lady!" Dock cried.

It turned into a mob quickly. They were ready to attack her but he quickly took his snake stance, throwing up a shadow wall in front of Katara with his eyes narrowed to slits. "Have you no gist of appreciation?" He hissed. The mob turned to look at him. Kuseron felt himself once feel like he was fading. His tattoos were glowing again and the eye on his hand slowly blinked. "She saved your village from forthcoming obliteration and yet you go to assault her just because she _pretended_ to be someone she was not?"

"So, maybe she is a Waterbender, but she helped you!" Kuseron moved forward, letting his arms drop down to his sides but the wall remained. "Because of her, the factory will not poison your waters again and the damn army is gone! You should be thanking her for what she has done." His blood red eyes scanned over the crowd dangerously, his nostrils flared in anger. He wanted to hurt someone, but Katara stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Kuse, it's okay."

Katara stepped forward and pulled off the veiled hat. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you." The Waterbender paused. "But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not." Kuseron narrowed his eyes at the claim. The Painted Lady _was_ real. He knew it somehow. "Because your problems are real and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you."

He silently agreed with this. They had to start taking the initiative. "You have to help yourself..."

Dock's expression softened slowly. "She's right, but what should we do?"

Toph popped up behind a woman in the crowd, grinning a bit but spoke in a deep voice. "Maybe we can clean the river!" Kuseron had to cover his mouth to keep the sneer hidden on his lips, but he was pretty sure he was grinning ear to ear like a cat-owl.

"Yeah! We can clean the river!" Dock cried with a slow forming grin. The crowd voiced their joy and approval. Kuseron looked down at his hands, the tattoos fading back to black and the eye did not blink. "Thank you again. You know, you not bad for a Waterbender."

Kuseron turned his attention back to them. Sokka frowned at this. "You wouldn't mind keep that a secret would you?"

Toph walked up beside him and he looked down at her, nudging her with his elbow. "Nice job." He murmured in her ear. She shrugged in response. "It's what I do..."

"No problem, I'm good at keeping my mouth shut but my Brother, Shu, on the other hand is a blabbermouth." Dock mused.

Sokka and The Shadowbender both responded the same way. He slammed his palm to his forehead and drew it down his face. _Can we just get this over with?_ He thought to himself.

"So Dock, are you going to help us clean?" Katara asked.

Dock shook his head. "No ma'am, I'm going to get my other brother Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers!" The man removed his hat. Another hat came out in its place. "Alright! I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done!"

Aang walked forward. "Aha! I knew it. You're both the Shopkeeper and the boat guy."

"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Shu!" 'Bushi' said enthusiastically.

"No! I just saw you! You switched hats and called yourself a different name!" Aang protested.

"Oo. You know who does that? My brother Dock." He leaned in slightly. "He's crazy..." The Man laughed before walking away.

Aang was very red and steam was coming off his head. Katara was confused. Sokka stared at the old man with a frown.

He didn't know how to react. For starters, he _was_ crazy. Dock, Shu, Bushi... Whoever he was, was a real nutcase. Kuseron sniffed. "If that guy just chronically insane or is it me?"

And so... They cleaned the water. It took hours on end and they finally went to bed. Except him. He wanted to figure out more. He had an odd sense to go to the water's edge, which he did so.

Kuseron stopped, his tattoos glowing once more and he sneered slightly. Katara was bending down to take some water in her hands. He silently walked forward and stopped a few feet behind her. A mist was coming to cover-up the water in front of her. The Waterbender looked up and gaped. Kuseron bowed slightly. "Thank you." The Painted Lady whispered with a small smile. The Spirit looked towards him. "Both of you..."

He stepped forward. "It's been a while my old friend."

"Indeed Murmur... It is nice to see a familiar spirit around these parts." The Painted Lady whispered.

Kuseron sneered. "I don't get much of the traveling done anymore, stupid reincarnation cycles goes all over the place."

The spirit nodded to him silently before shrinking back into her spirit-mist clouds. Kuseron looked down at Katara. "You may tell Kuseron of what you heard, but not until the day before the invasion..." He whispered coolly before turning and walking away.

* * *

**[1] If you cannot tell the difference between MURMUR and Kuseron, than I suggest looking back at my last chapter. When MURMUR is about, you will notice that he's different and acts as if he knows spirits, plus his tattoos glow. How 'bout that?**

**Read it, Hate it, Love it, Bite it~!**

**THANKS!**


	9. A Collection of Memories

Kuseron raised a brow inquisitively at the sky. It was beautiful, but... He didn't feel impressed, or in awe at the Meteor shower. It showed people how little they were, how far we hadn't gone. Kuse only sniffed, placing a hand down by his side. Toph shifted and placed her hand in his. The sky was lit up beyond measure with the meteor shower. They came across the sky, cascading like blue fireflies. He squeezed Toph's hand and she squeezed back, harder than he expected, but he didn't mind. He was actually quite used to it now.

"Wow. This is so amazing to watch..." Katara whispered. She was smiling up at the sky, her face held wonder.

"Kinda makes you realize how insignificant we are..." Sokka remarked.

"Eh..." Toph sniffed. "You've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times."

Everyone except him and Toph began to make sounds of awe as one Meteor began to descend from the sky, but Sokka sat up quickly. "You've never not seen anything like this!" One comet broke off from the rest, flying over their heads and breaking for the land. They ran down to Appa when they realized it was a fire that was breaking out. "That fire is going to destroy that town!" Katara cried as they dove for a landing. "Not if we can stop it!" Aang cried.

Katara hopped over to Appa's head, taking the reins as they jumped off. "There's a creek over there, I'll bend the water onto the fire!"

Kuseron was already in his stance, he spun around sharply and brought his hands out over each other, one palm facing up the other down. He took in a sharp breath and let it out, stepping back and bringing his right hand in. A dome of darkness formed over the fire to keep it contained.

"Toph! Let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer." Aang commanded.

"What should I do?" Sokka cried.

Kuseron looked back at the boy. "Look stupid." The warrior turned to glare at him. The Shadowbender sneered at him before turning his attention back to the darkness. He had to keep the dome up. It was big enough for Appa to fly around in. "Keep an eye on Momo!" Aang said.

"So, what I'm just a Lemur sitter?" Sokka grumbled.

Kuseron sneered more in mockery. _Yes. Yes you are._ Sokka was helpful in some situations but not ones like this.

It was over before he knew it. He drew back, standing straight and let out a much needed replacement of air. "Good work everybody." Aang said cheerfully.

Kuseron shifted, walking over to the pile of snow that contained Sokka. The Water tribe boy poked his head out and huffed. "Here." He held out his hand to the warrior, who took it and Kuse pulled him onto his feet.

* * *

_He raised the cup to his lips, letting the bitter tonic roll over his lips, through his teeth and across his tongue. The cool, bitter liquid quenched his dying need for the drink that would later only make his head hurt and his mouth parch. Kuseron scowled slightly. "Another Kio." He grumbled to a baldheaded man. Kio was a light tan, with a dirty look to him, but he was a rather nice person once you got past the looks. "Rough night?" Kuseron placed a few copper coins down. "What do you think?"_

"_I see." Kio quickly fixed up his drink, taking the empty glass and replacing it with the filled one._

_Kuseron didn't usually pay attention to the other thugs and thieves that entered the bar, but a loud man came bustling in. He had a few other thugs following behind him. "Hey Kio!" He brandished a small dagger. "Get us a round of your finest." The Thug grinned devilishly. This guy, the Shadowbender remembered him. He was a top-notch thug apparently. Kio didn't ask for money. Status held power, power gave you pawns, and Pawns gave you what they had. It was a simple process._

_The Thug pushed his way to the bar, his train making people move. Kuseron did not move. He wasn't going to move, just because they wanted the bar to themselves. Kio looked at him with wide eyes, "You better move!" He hissed._

_He still did not move._

"_Hey Worm! Move your scrawny ass!" One man pushed him aside, causing his drink to spill down his shirt as he landed on the ground. Laughter came out from around the bar, some of it was hesitant. The Shadowbender lifted his gaze, eyes deadly and a hiss slipped through his lips. "Bastard!" The head thug turned to him, glaring down at him. "What did you just call my friend?"_

_Everything went silent._

"_You heard me." Kuseron growled, pushing up onto his feet with a scowl that held every ounce of anger in his body._

_The thug loomed over him. "Are you asking for a fight kid?"_

_Kuseron lifted his gaze, returning the man's glare. "Maybe I am..."_

_The thug brandished his dagger near his throat, pressing it near his jugular. "You're pretty stupid kid. Do you know who I am?" Kuseron didn't answer, slamming his palm into the man's stomach, pushing him back with a single thrust. "Do you know who I am?" He whispered, eyes deadly._

_The thug grabbed the hilt of his dagger, "You just asked for a whole lot of pain worm."_

_Kuseron only snorted, "You should know something, I'm not normal. Never was... I was born with something inside me."_

He was returning to the memory. The night that he had killed that Thug. What did he do that night? What caused him to kill that man? The Shadowbender inhaled slowly. Everyone was asleep, but tonight, he wanted to know. He closed his blood red eyes.

_The Thug scowled up at him. "So what? You're still going to get your ass kicked kid!" The thug stood up and ran at the Shadowbender, with his knife drawn ready to strike._

_Kuseron shifted into his snake-like stance, eyes narrowed to slits as his markings glowed, the eye blinked before he seemed to slide forward, one hand slamming into the leg of the thug and the other posed to send the man flying over him. It happened, the man flew over Kuse without so much as touching him._

_The Thug spat onto the ground angrily and pulled a man's sword away from him. "Damn you!" He turned, swinging the blade around at Kuseron, who ducked backwards, flipping backwards. The Thug went after him, swinging his blade with every step he took. Kuseron slid left to right and away. The blade never touched him._

"_Stand still!" The Thug hissed, bringing the blade up for a downwards swing. The blade came down, but Kuseron, who had been backed against a wall, easily dodged it. He fell into the darkness and reappeared behind the Thug with a scowl. "You're getting on my nerves." He growled._

_The Thug spun around, swinging the blade diagonally. The Shadowbender bent sideways, grabbing the man's wrist before taking his elbow and slamming it into the man's nose. He heard a loud crack which gave him a satisfied sneer. The Thug tried to kick him but Kuseron ducked under that, spinning away quickly._

_The man was bleeding badly from his nose and Kuse could only sneer more. "I thought you were supposed to be the best."_

_The Thug gnashed his teeth and darted forward. The Shadowbender slid into his snake stance, striking forward with his fingers to the man's throat. The Thug choked, backing away. "I strike when they least expect it..." He murmured, beginning to strike repeatedly at the man with his fingertips in vital points of the body._

_He was backed to the wall and Kuseron brought back his left hand for one last strike. The thug was pleading for forgiveness and for him to stop. "Please. I'll do anything. Please..." He whispered hoarsely. Kuseron scowled more._

"_It's too late for that..." He struck, one final blow to the throat. The Thug choked once more before slumping to the floor._

_Kuseron turned away and walked back to the bar, sitting down and looking at Kio. "Another." He muttered. Kio gave him the drink in shaking hands and Kuse gladly took it, placing money down on the counter before walking out in silence._

Kuseron's eyes popped open. That was not helpful. It gave him some insight, like how he acted when he wasn't in full control, but that... It just showed him that a part of him was different, very different. He groaned. It was almost morning. They were probably going to go into town for food today. He slipped off towards the creek and stared down at his reflection. _What am I?_ He frowned at himself.

He could feel whatever it was that was inside him. He wanted to know who it was... He had always wondered how he was so special. In the visions of his Family, his father hadn't been a Shadowbender. He had some recollection of words in his head. Something that had happened earlier this week. _...Stupid reincarnation cycle goes all over the place._

The Shadowbender sighed, making his way back to camp. The others were getting up now. Was he something like Aang? He silently followed the others as they moved on towards town. They went straight to town for food. Kuseron sat in the spot Sokka did not sit at. He pushed his food around, _Am I just a tool?_ Aang walked over with his bowl of rice and some kind of veggie platter. "This people have no idea how close they came to being toasted last night..."

"Yeah." Toph took a bite of her bread. "The bad thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love." Toph frowned, leaning her head into one of her hands.

Kuseron poked at his meat with a fork. "I'd rather not be worshipped like a Spirit or God." He muttered gloomily.

"Boohoo. Poor Heroes..." Sokka grumbled. He hadn't even touched his food. That was bad. He seemed just as bad off as him, except for a different reason.

"What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug." Katara remarked.

"It's just..." He looked back at them. "All you guys can do this really cool bending stuff, like putting out forest fires and flying around and making other stuff fly around..." Aang and Katara looked between one another. Toph just looked bored. The Shadowbender didn't move to even acknowledge the boy, he was to caught up in his own thoughts. "I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything." Sokka sighed.

"That's not true!" Katara said quickly. "No one can read a map like you."

Toph nodded and put her hands out in a shrugging gesture. "I can't read at all."

"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with Sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang mused. "I mean, look at Katara's hair." The airbender took a lock of Katara's brown hair in hand. "What's up with that?" Katara took her hair back, looking flustered. "What? What's wrong with my hair?"

Aang frowned slowly. "Nothing, Nothing. I was just trying to..."

Sokka cut in. "I appreciate the effort but the fact is, that each of you are amazing and so special..." The boy's shoulders slumped forward. "And I'm not."

Kuseron pushed away. Anger flared up inside him. The Shadowbender looked at Sokka with a scowl. "You _can_ be amazing. Just get off your lazy ass and do something about it." He hissed, storming away quickly.

"What's his problem?" Aang asked as he walked away.

The others returned to soothing Sokka afterwards. Kuseron returned back to the campsite, and slumped against Chiel. He wanted to know who he really was. Who was there inside him? What type of spirit was in there? The Shadowbender rubbed Chiel behind his ears. "I don't know what to do..." He murmured. What was his reason for his powers? Was the spirit the reason why he had memory loss? Chiel licked his cheek with a low whine. "Yeah bud. I know..." He had to be patient, in time it would reveal itself. He closed his blood red eyes. Why did he come with them? Was it fate? Or just simply him choosing the path that would only end in destruction?

He opened an eye only when the others returned, except Sokka wasn't with them. "Where's the whiner?" He grumbled.

Katara looked at him with a scowl. "He's gone to see if a Sword master will train him."

He grunted back and closed his eyes again. The other three went to laying on the ground. Silence... Pure silence. He hoped it'd stay that way—

"What should we do today?"

"I'm tapped out. I've already picked my toes... Twice."

"Twice?

"The first time is for cleaning, the second time is for the _sweet_ picking sensation."

"Sokka's been in charge of the schedule. I'm not sure what we should be doing."

"Plus... It's so hot today."

"How hot is it?"

"I dunno."

"It's so hot... It's so hot... That Momo is shedding like Appa!"

"I guess the jokes don't run in the family..."

"Oh. Everyone's a critic."

Appa growled.

"How about some peace and quiet?" He asked. The other lifted their heads and looked at him. Kuseron raised his brows. The Shadowbender sighed and stood. "Aang can I talk to you?"

The airbender stood. "Yeah?"

Kuseron motioned for him to follow him. "Alone."

Aang followed after him and he stopped a little ways from camp. "Aang, can you help me?"

The Air Nomad shrugged. "It depends on what it is."

Kuseron licked his dry lips for a second before thinking carefully. "I need you to help me with a Spiritual journey. I need to go into the Spirit world."

Aang eyes widened in surprise. "Why do you need to go to the Spirit World?" The Avatar asked.

"I need to contact a spirit." He replied.

Aang narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do."

Kuseron nodded slowly. When should they do it? _Tonight, when the moon is new._ The Shadowbender shifted a bit before sighing. "We can do it tonight then. It's the night that gives me the most power."

Aang nodded and turned back to go to camp. He followed after and sat back down, slumping against Chiel. Katara had pulled out a map and was looking over it. "So, where are we going next? We're starting from here..."

"No! We're over on this island!"

Oh Spirits make it stop. Kuseron closed his eyes with an annoyed huff.

"You noodlebrains don't know what you're doing." Toph grumbled. "I miss Sokka."

"Oh! I got one!" Katara was probably grinning. "If you miss him so much, why don't you marry him?"

Toph grunted in response. Kuseron opened his eyes and stared at the Waterbender. She wasn't good at making jokes and that was clear. Toph came rolling over after a moment, curling up with her head in his lap. He lightly stroked her cheek, glaring at the other two before he closed his eyes once more. _Finally._ Now he could think without having to say it out loud...

* * *

Kuseron groaned as someone poked him in the nose, hard too. He swatted at whatever was poking him and shifted over in his sleep. It was too late for him to get up! This time he was poked roughly in his shoulder blade. _Spirits! What the fuck?_ He flashed his eyes open and rolled up onto his feet, glaring into light blue eyes. "Sokka? Damn it!" He hissed and grabbed... a sword? He looked down at the sheathed sword. What was this? Was he dreaming that really awful dream again...? Where Aang was a hog-monkey, Sokka would never stop poking him, Katara would follow him around and shout irately at him and Toph would be a statue, that talked rather awkwardly...

He gave a quick look around before raising a brow. Katara was sitting by the fire and Toph was a little ways away, eating. "Oh thank goodness." The Shadowbender murmured.

Sokka took his sword back and glared at Kuseron. "Aang wanted to talk to you..." The warrior walked away with a sigh.

Kuseron screwed his eyes shut for a second, trying to process the information. _Right... _He had asked Aang to help him tonight. He opened his eyes and stared at the moonless sky. He drew in a deep breath and heard a yelp of surprise, darkness was dancing around the edge of camp. Katara looked at him with a frown. Toph looked around confusedly. Sokka, well, he was floating in place. The warrior had been caught right where the darkness was dancing, sending him up and down repeatedly.

"Put me down. Please..." Sokka grumbled.

Kuseron grinned at this but put the warrior down. "Where's Aang?" Katara lifted her free hand whilst she waterbended the water in the pot, "He went that way."

Kuseron shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked away. He had to find this Spirit, this other presence. Why was it attached to him? Why was the Spirit reincarnated into him, why not someone else? He licked his lips as he walked, lifting his blood red eyes from the ground to Aang, who was sitting on a large flat rock. "Hello Aang."

"Hey Kuseron." The boy airbended into the air for a split second before landing beside him. "I don't know how we are going to get to the Spirit World, but I guess we have to try..." Was he the Avatar or not? There had to be someway that he knew about!

Kuseron sat down. "Well, let's try meditating first. I suppose that is how you get there." He replied dully.

Aang sat down beside him and they both went to try and meditating. The Avatar took up his usual position, hands balled to fists and put together. He did his meditating quite differently. Kuseron shifted a bit, fixing his hands to where his tattoos faced out and his left hand was over his right, both hands brought towards his midsection. Silence. It was something that could be quite helpful. He focused in on the presence inside him and gasped, a sudden tugging sensation came from behind his navel.

That was rather quick. His vision was fuzzy as he woke again and could hear in the background, concerned yelps. It was Aang. "Kuseron...!" "KUSERON!"

He slowly sat up, groaning slightly as he rubbed his eyes. "What happened?"

"We're here." Aang stated simply.

It took several moments for him to process that he was no longer in the Physical world. "Whoa..." He exclaimed under his breath. They were in a very dark place, the moon was risen and they were near a lake. It seemed a bit to comforting. Kuseron stood up slowly. "Where are we exactly? Do you know, being Avatar and all?"

Aang shook his head. "I haven't been around the whole Spirit world, I think it just goes on and on."

Kuseron felt a familiar presence. It was a comforting one and then there was a more frightening one, strong probably foreboding as well. The Shadowbender spun on his heel. There was a woman standing near the lake. "Murmur?" The woman whispered, almost looking a bit happy[1]. His brows furrowed, this person looked absurdly close to the... Painted Lady. "No. I'm Kuseron." He replied.

The dark presence seemed to shrink away. The Painted Lady looked off into the distance. "How did you get..." She trailed off, catching sight of Aang who happily bounced over. "Are you the Painted Lady?" The nomad asked quickly.

Kuseron ran a hand through his hair before deciding to go off on his own. He left Aang, who was now grilling the poor Spirit with questions, and went after the dark presence he had felt earlier. He wanted to know who it was. No. He needed to know! He broke into a sudden run when he caught sight of a retreating figure in dark billowing robes. He was tempted to call out to the spirit but decided against it, in case that _it was_ the spirit that he needed to speak to.

Kuse watched as the shadow flew into the sky, leaping but he kept after the spirit.

The closer he caught up, the more he knew that this was who he was looking for. Although, he was wondering why it would run from him when he was its host. "Hey! Wait!" The figure looked back at him and Kuseron stopped at the sight of the blood red eyes. He was definitely the spirit he was trying to find.

_Murmur?_ Was that his name? The Painted Lady had called him Murmur, so was this spirit's name Murmur? It would befit such a spirit if he was this shy, or scared... Whatever. "Murmur!" He called.

The spirit slowly stopped, skidding to a stop before heaving his shoulders in a heavy sigh. Kuseron came up behind the spirit, grabbing him by the shoulder and bodily spinning him around. The Shadowbender reeled back in surprise. It, he, Murmur—! The spirit looked just like him! Except taller, more of a man than a young boy and quite pale. Murmur was clad in all black, rather lanky and his blood red eyes were more like a cat owl's. The spirit's messy black hair resembled Kuseron's. He wore a long cloak, black boots, dark black pants and a black shirt, a sword attached to his hip. The spirit scowled, baring sharp fangs down at him. "Finally figured it out did you Kuseron?" The spirit hissed with malice in his voice and an anger contorted face.

"You? You're the one inside me?" He asked.

Murmur shifted a bit before flopping down into a rock. "Yeah."

Kuseron had expected something different. More like a spirit that was... Well that didn't look like him! Murmur, was he the reason why he was a Shadowbender? Was he the reason why his memories were fuzzy? He sputtered slightly, trying to find the words he wanted to ask. "Spit it out!" The Spirit commanded.

"Are you the reason why I can shadowbend?" Kuseron fell back onto his backside, staring across at Murmur.

The Man sighed. "Yes, I give you the ability to control the darkness."

Kuseron frowned slowly. _Then..._ He looked down at his hands, the tattoos were glowing strangely. "Ever on and on, I continue circling with nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony. Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing and suddenly I see that I can't break free... I'm slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity." Murmur mused softly.

The Shadowbender stared at the spirit. "Will you tell me?"

The man shifted, something glinted in his eyes. "Tell you what?"

"Everything..." He replied.

Murmur huffed, "I'll just release your faded memories, they'll come to you slowly but..." The Spirit shifted and placed his hands together, leaning his chin against his hands. "As you know now, I am Murmur." Kuseron shifted a bit, feeling as if he was staring into the face of his future self. "I am the spirit of dark vengeance and justice. I have helped the Avatar a lot in the past, they just never knew it."

"So, in the past you've helped the past Avatars accomplish tasks?"

"Yes," Murmur continued on. "My gift to my host is Shadowbending. It's fitting because I am a spirit of darkness yet my intentions are good." The spirit shifted and stood. "This is all I shall tell you for now. We will be speaking again soon..."

Kuseron blinked. Was that all he was going to get? He scrambled up. "B-But...!"

Murmur glared down at him, "With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony, To tell me who I am, who I was. Uncertainty enveloping my mind. Till I can't break free, and maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real but it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel..."

Kuseron refrained from asking his question. He could wait. Patience was a virtue, right? Aang suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Murmur disappeared in the wind like dust. "Kuseron, are you ready to leave?" The Shadowbender shrugged.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

"Aang, I know swimming is fun, but should you really be exposing yourself like that? Cover up!" Toph was leaning beside him as she stared sightlessly out across the water. Kuseron wasn't much a swimmer himself but he would occasionally enjoy the cooling water. He was still partially soaked from earlier, having took a little time to relax in the sweet, cool water. Toph leaned into him more, placing her head on his shoulder.

"What? I'm wearing trunks." Aang replied, grinning a bit. He seemed all too happy. Momo was laying on the monk's stomach, purring gently as he napped a bit. Katara finished ringing out her hair and stood up, staring at the boy as he floated along. "I know! But it's your tattoos I'm worried about!" Kuseron couldn't help but grin to himself. "What if someone sees you?"

"There are walls all around us. It's completely safe." Katara replied.

Toph huffed in some annoyance but returned her head to his shoulder. He picked up his lute, strumming down on some strings. A little break was nice, he had felt quite stressed over the last few days anyways...

Kuseron stared up at the night sky with a frown. He was thinking about what Murmur had told him again. The Spirit had told him he had helped Avatars in the past. _So, I _am _worth something._ He wasn't just a lowly thief, he was more than that. He had a great thing ahead of him. _But..._

The Shadowbender jumped when he saw Murmur appear, it was only an outline of him. _You are troubled Kuseron. Ask the question you've been __**dying**__ to ask._

He sat up, looking across at Toph, who was sleeping with Momo curled in her arms. Murmur looked at the earthbender and he sighed. _You're wondering about your future?_ Kuse nodded slowly. "Yeah. What's going to happen in the future? Did you have to sacrifice yourself in the past...?" He chewed his lower lip after he spoke, eyes meeting the spirit's but they held fear.

Murmur graced the silence with a frown_. I have sacrificed myself many a times, but only few have I truly died when doing so..._

Kuseron felt a bit reassured. "So, do you know, if I survive in the future?"

Murmur looked at the ground, _At this point in time, I am unsure. _The Shadowbender slumped slightly. _I understand your pain youngling, at one point in time I, too, was an actual person and in love._

Kuseron blinked, thinking back to the Painted Lady. "You mean... The Painted Lady?" He asked. Murmur seemed to visibly stiffen but nevertheless smiled. _Yes, she was known as Kasumi once. _The Spirit sighed before standing. _Listen well Kuseron, in time you will know when you have to sacrifice yourself and when that time comes, you will know then whether you will survive or not..._ Kuseron took a deep breath. He hoped he would survive. He didn't want to leave Toph behind. He had literally fallen 'head over heels' for her. Murmur faded into the darkness and he looked over at Toph, blinking slowly.

The Armadillo-wolf was snoring away. "If I make another move there'll be no more turning back, because everything will change, and it all will fade to black. Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night? Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light? Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go? I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know? Can I take another step?" He murmured to himself, leaning back into his furry buddy before closing his eyes.

Sleep alluded him however...

"Guys, you might all think I'm crazy but... I think a Metal man is coming." Toph was sitting up and staring off at something.

Kuseron blinked. _A Metal Man? _He shifted as he caught sight of a figure up on one of the high walls of the dip in the earth. Aang rubbed his eyes before he jumped forward, airbending as the man... firebended with his...? He was sent flying backwards and he groaned, landing lightly on his feet with a scowl. Toph quickly earthbended at the man. The man destroyed the rocks sent at him and Aang kept them from getting hurt by airbending again. Katara waterbended but the man blew that away too... Steam rose into the air and he narrowed his eyes.

They dove behind one wall of earth, well, except for him. "Kuseron! Get your butt over here!" Toph cried.

He narrowed his eyes darkly before sliding across the ground to land beside Aang. "This is crazy! How are we supposed to fight a guy who blows things up with his mind?" Sokka cried.

"We can't! Jump on Appa. I'll try to distract him!" Aang ran off before he could stop him. It wasn't this time then... He wasn't meant to sacrifice himself here.

"He's gone after Aang!" Katara cried.

The Metal man hadn't even given them a second glance as he ran after the Avatar. Kuseron used the shadows to get Chiel onto Appa. They took off into the air and he narrowed his eyes as he saw the scene below. He watched Aang fly into the air as a rock person before the earth dropped to the ground and he landed beside Katara. "I'm okay." He gasped.

Toph was lightly gripped his arm. "That was random."

Katara shook her head. "I don't think so, I have a feeling he knows who we are..."

They flew off into the night.

* * *

Kuseron sighed as they landed on the ground on a black island. The place was completely covered in lava that had hardened years ago... The Shadowbender sighed. "Why are we here?" He asked for the second time. He understood that Aang had been called to go to this place, but this place was just an old ash pile. "But there's nothing here." Katara muttered.

Toph leapt down beside him. "Y-Yes there is..." She frowned slowly as she spoke. "A village, a hundred homes, all buried in ash."

He stared down at the ground. _Where were you when this happened Murmur?_ He could see his tattoos dimly glow. _My, our, past life was in the Northern Water tribe._ Kuseron frowned more but they quickly set up camp as the sun began to set.

Aang took up a sitting position on the edge of a rock formation. Kuseron watched as the boy's tattoos glowed. He had entered the spirit realm.

It was well into the night until the Avatar moved, but he had not returned from his journey in the Spirit world, instead they watched as he looked like he was... using... the restroom. Katara and he were both wearing the same face, "Do they have bathrooms in the Spirit world?" She asked with her eyebrow twitching in disgust.

Sokka shook his head. "A matter of fact, they do not."

Kuseron looked at the warrior. "How would you know that?"

Sokka looked back at him with a frown. "Got trapped there once, wasn't fun."

They went back to their places as Aang resumed his sitting position. The Shadowbender frankly, he was going to be scarred for a while about that whole matter. "You alright?" Toph asked as she sat down beside him. Kuseron sighed. "Yeah, I'm good, just going to be scarred for a while." He replied. The earthbender jabbed him in the side. "I mean are you _actually_ alright? You seem a bit..." She trailed off. "Not like you."

Kuse blinked. He had been sulking a bit since he found out about the sacrifice thing. When the time came would he die? Surely not, he didn't want to leave Toph. The Shadowbender was unable to help himself, he drew the blind girl into a hug. _If I do die, hopefully, she will be able to move on..._ Toph had gone stiff. She was surprised probably. "Sorry." He muttered as he drew back, smiling at her when he saw her face. She was blushing fiercely and visibly surprised on usually straight face.

Toph finally came around after a minute. "T-That's okay." She stammered a bit but only soon, curled into him. Morning would come soon, so it was best that they got some sleep. The Shadowbender buried his face into her soft, raven black hair. The earthbender was already snoring lightly.

He brushed his lips against her ear as he spoke softly. "I love you."

Sleep would allude him once more, but on his own accord. He was just thinking a little too much. Kuseron hadn't even notice the sun beginning to rise but Aang was slowly returning from the Spirit World. Toph lifted her head, she probably could tell Aang was moving around now. "He's back!" Toph said loud enough to wake Katara and her brother. They quickly got up and gathered up on the rock that Aang was on. The Air nomad looked at them with a small smile. "Hey guys."

Aang quickly explained that Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin had been friends. Kuseron wasn't as phased as everyone else. "You mean after all Sozin and Roku went through together, even after Roku showed him mercy, Sozin still goes and betrays him like that?" Katara asked, shrugging slightly.

Kuseron looked down at Toph as she spoke. "It's like these people are born bad."

That wasn't true. He had learned that a long time ago... "No that's wrong. I don't think that was the point of what Roku showed me at all." Aang replied quickly.

Sokka spoke next. "Then what was the point?"

"Roku was just as must Fire Nation as Sozin right? If anything this story proves that anyone can do great good and great evil." Aang stood. "Everyone, even the Firelord and the Fire nation are worth treating like they have a chance, and I also think it was about friendships..." The Air nomad turned back to look at them.

Kuseron looked down at Toph again, she was frowning and looked a bit sad. "Do you think friendships can last for more than one lifetime?" Aang took her hand, as well as Katara. Kuseron smiled and hugged her lightly from behind. "I don't see why not." Aang said.

"Well scientifically speaking, there is no way to prove—" Sokka was cut off by Katara.

"O! Sokka just hold hands!" She growled at him. The boy stayed in the position he was, in a thinking pose but he quickly took his Sister's hand.

* * *

**Lovely way to end the 9th chapter eh? So this is a collection of things from episodes 4-6. Next will be the Runaway! Don't worry, it'll be getting better soon... Oh, and keep the idea of sacrifice in mind guys. I'm not implying anything, but soon... Soon you will all see my thinking.**

** [1] The Painted Lady and Murmur used to be in Lurve~ If that wasn't very clear.**

**Anyways~ Love it, hate it, review it~ I love your reviews guys, it's what makes me keep going.**

**Also, please check out the next Author's note, it's important.**


	10. Author's Note

**A/N 1: I'm so evil! MwAhAhAhA! I disobeyed my editor and took a break! IAmSoMeAnToUpEoPle!**

**Lol. My writing might be a bit crazy, 'cause, GUESSFUCKINGWHAT!**

**IDIGESTED13BOTTLESOFROOTBEER! BRAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!**

**I"MSOEFFINHYPER!**

**OH!OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! I also ate...**

**7 PoPtArTS~ BROWNSUGERBIYATCHES! :DDDDDDDD**

**Yeah... SORY IF THIS CHAPTER GEst a litlte confusign.**

**Ohohohohoh! And Bros, my editor is Keeblergamer. -looks around- Yes. Yes. YES. I just promoted you broham! . *+* - Rape face - oWo !**

**!**

**-Sobers up a bit, enough to write proper [aka Hours later in the night(PS. IT was 11, now it is 1)]-**

**A/N 2: Eheh. Not going to delete that. Pffft. Don't need to because some of you bros and gals are used to this shit. Besides, I like to document my absolute craziness sometimes. Ehm. Yeah, so Keebler, I am making you my editor, even though when I made that choice I was probably Sugar high. I hope you guys enjoy CH.9 because you will _never_ get anymore! -evil laugh-**

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**I kid, I kid... Besides... That would be no fun. I love the comments you drop. They're like beats to my rhymes and raps! :3 Okay, well, I was also going to give you peeps out there permission to draw Kuseron if you want. It can be KusexToph or Kuseron and Murmur talking to one another, or just various scenes from any chapters. Even parodies if you want, because I'm just that nice.**

**End.**


	11. The Runaway and Assorted Baubles

**Be Honest guys... How many of you thought I was actually going to stop writing this? How could I? I love writing this story so much!**

* * *

Kuseron sniffed and rubbed his nose, as he watched Toph and Katara take up their stances. They were getting ready to have another training sessions with Twinkletoes... "Okay! I'm ready for some training!" Aang said brightly as he tied the bandana of his around his eyes. The Shadowbender stretched out slightly as he watched, the Avatar took a step forward and then another, the second one he used his heel to hit hard against the ground. He easy slid away from the earth that came at him from the blind earthbender, he was using the earth to propel himself. He stopped.

Kuse watched as Katara got ready to strike. Aang easily dodged it and sent the water whip back at her. He sent a rock flying towards Toph, whom caught it with a smirk. "Good Job Twinkletoes." She praised the boy. "Visualize then attack!" The earthbender sent the rock flying back at Aang, who dove into the earth. Katara was hit squarely in the chest with the rock.

The Shadowbender winced. This wasn't going to turn out well... He had seen the two fighting before. "Maybe you should take your own advice Toph!" The Waterbender snapped at the blind girl. Aang poked his head up from the hole in the ground, clearly confused by what was going on.

"What's a matter? Can't handle a little dirt, Madame Fussy britches~" Toph shot back with a grin. Kuseron couldn't help but snort in laughter. Oh, the girl he loved really had some snazzy comebacks. Aang was back up on the actual ground, between the two with the same confused look still. Katara narrowed her eyes dangerously before summoning a wave of water. It bypassed Aang who thought it was coming for him but instead it passed harmlessly by him. Toph scowled as she was drenched with water, her hands on her hips.

"Oh. I'm sorry, did I splash you, mudslug?" Katara grounded out. The two then flew forward at one another, Kuseron had no time to step in. Katara and Toph were fighting one another quite quickly. "Are we taking a break?" Aang asked. Sokka threw himself forward out of nowhere, randomly shouting, "Sneak Attack!" Aang quickly earthbended and Sokka was stop dead in his tracks. "Sneak attacks don't work if you shout it out loud Sokka."

Kuseron was busy watching the two girls fighting in the mud. Toph scowled as they swung around, fighting for dominance... "Hungry for a mudpie?" She kicked up mud into Katara's face, who backed away and wiped her face off. "I'll give you a mudpie!" Katara sent mud into the face of the earthbender's and she fell into the mud. Kuseron almost ran to go and collect her but Toph flashed back up and sent Katara flying backwards. They were about ready to tackle one another again until Aang popped up.

"Uh... Guys...? I thought we were supposed to be training me?" He leapt down from his black cloud of darkness, landing beside Sokka. Katara stepped forward. "Very well pupil, I think we've had enough training for today." She walked off.

Toph turned to the three of them, quickly earthbending the mud off her clothes. "While Katara cleans up, let's go have some fun!" She said with a grin.

Kuseron watched the two boys let out yelps of approval. He just rolled his eyes and watched them begin to walk off as Aang quickly hopped from foot to foot as he dressed. Toph looked back at him. "Go on, I've got other things to do."

The earthbender nodded before walking away. He went to where Katara was. She was quietly grumbling under her breath. She was still mad at Toph it seemed. He tapped her on her shoulder lightly. "Hey..." She looked up at him, putting on a quick smile for him. "I was wondering if I could have your help bathing Chiel." Katara nodded slowly.

"Sure." Kuseron whistled and his furry buddy bounced over to him, thinking that they were going to play a game. Katara and the Shadowbender quickly went to the small river. Chiel was reluctant to come close but came anyways, knowing he'd have to get cleaned one way or the other. Kuse patted his friend lightly on the head. "Don't worry Chiel, it's just to get rid of your heavy coat." He mused.

They quickly washed Chiel, who was whimpering through the whole thing, but the Shadowbender had time to talk to the waterbender. "Katara?" The Waterbender lifted her head, scratching Chiel lightly under his chin as she looked at Kuseron. "Yeah?" She asked.

"You and Toph are friends aren't you?" Katara paused in her washing, but returned to taking chunks of the fur that was coming out. "Yeah. Me and Toph are friends." Kuseron frowned slowly. He was afraid of how to ask his next question, but sighed, falling back onto a wet rock. It was a stupid move for him. The rock was slick enough to where he slid forward off it and into the water. He lifted himself up out of the water with a small scowl. Katara was laughing. He was completely soaked. He let his blood red eyes travel to the girl before he splashed water at her.

She looked momentarily surprised by that move, before she looked at him with a playful look in her eyes. Kuse knew he was in trouble now. Chiel was between them and the Armadillo-wolf took the moment of pause to shake the water droplets off in his fur. He threw his hands up to keep from getting the water in his face. Chiel barked happily and ran away quickly. Kuseron sighed, "Chiel—gagrgh!" He had not seen that coming. Katara waterbended a small wave at him and he sputtered. The Waterbender was laughing again.

Kuseron stood and stared down at his shadow on the surface of the clear water. The Shadowbender grinned slowly before moving his hands as if he was squishing clay to become a ball. His Shadow rose from the water and he thrust his hands forward. A ball of water was thrown at Katara, who fell back in surprise.

The Shadowbender bent his head back, laughing in a teasing manner. He had meant to ask about Toph and her relationship with Katara, but this had turned her angry mood into a more laughable and fun mood. Kuseron gasped as he suddenly fell backwards a current dragging him under momentarily. He sat up and spat out water, narrowing his eyes at Katara who was floating a little away, laughing again.

He dove under the water for a second before popping up in front of her and looking down at her with a smirk. She tried to waterbend at him again but he quickly dunked her under the water. Katara had quick enough reflexes for he felt a tug on his leg as she was dunked under, and she pulled him down with her. They both popped back up and glared at one another, good-naturedly though. Kuseron swam around a bit before getting out of the small river-lake. Katara bended the water out of both their clothes before returning to camp. The Waterbender set to work on dinner.

Kuseron had finished brushing out Chiel as he heard the others returning, they were all laughing. Katara lifted her head as they dropped bags of food on the ground. "Where did you guys get all the money to buy this stuff?" The Shadowbender leaned back into Chiel, who felt softer than the softest silk. _They weren't stealing, were they?_ Kuse frowned slightly. He hoped that hadn't rubbed off on Toph. He wouldn't want her or anyone else to get caught because they had stole.

"Toph got us the money..." Aang remarked. The earthbender trudged quietly over to him, handing him an apple. He took it gladly watching her bite into her own. "She scammed one of those guys who moves the shells around all sneaky-like." Katara was gaping but she then narrowed her gaze. Sokka sat down beside Aang. "She used earthbending to win the game. Classic!"

"Ah..." Kuseron flinched slightly. He could hear the maternal voice in her words. "So she cheated."

Toph had dug her teeth into the apple but pulled the apple away. "Hey. I only cheated because he was cheating." She smirked slowly. "I cheated a cheater." Kuseron quietly took a bite out of his apple, eyes wary as he watched the two interact. "What's wrong with that?" Toph questioned Madame Fussybritches.

"I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing." Katara swept her gaze over the three culprits. "Why? 'Cause it's fun? And you hate fun." Toph replied starkly.

Kuseron couldn't object. "If one of you get caught, what'll happen then?" He muttered, taking another bite of his apple as everyone turned their attention to him. Toph looked at him like he was crazy. Normally, he'd be neutral but being a thief... He knew they could possibly get caught. "I don't mean to be mean, parental or anything but by being a thief, I know what I speak of. They have different rules here, anything could happen." Aang looked at him then to Katara.

The Avatar stood. "Kuseron, Katara. I will make an Avatar promise and that we will not make a habit of doing these scams." Aang bowed to them both.

Kuseron didn't like it.

* * *

He found it odd... Extremely odd. Why did Katara not patronize him for his thievery but dogged after the others for their little charades. So he had to ask. The waterbender had looked at him funny and then asked, "Do you want me to get onto you about thieving?" Kuseron had backed away quickly. "No! No! I'm totally good!" The Shadowbender ran a hand through his hair as he walked in the darkness, tossing the latest bag of silver, he had "found", in his hand. He stopped though. Down another alleyway, he could see Toph. _What's she up to now?_ He thought. A royal-looking carriage was pulled along and he watched Toph quietly earthbend a small bump in front of the wheel. Kuseron scowled.

The man was soon pleading to Sokka, who had on a fake beard. The Shadowbender couldn't help but scowl angrily at this. After they had promised! _They're fucking morons..._ He disappeared in a portal of darkness, appearing back at the camp. They did realize if something happened, they might not be able to get them out. Didn't they?

Scamming was a different alley apart from thieving, but he knew a lot about it, having scammed some people in Ba Sing Se. Sooner or later, people would catch on... Katara must have seen his anger, because she came walking over. "Kuseron, what's going on?"

"They—! They're idiots! Morons!" He cried, throwing his hands. "After we warned them!" He looked up at Katara with a scowl. "They keep on scamming..." He hissed. Katara looked rather frustrated. "What?" She clenched her fists before storming off. He didn't feel any remorse right now. He didn't care he had sold them out to her. When they returned, she was either going to nag them or do something serious. She needed to buck up, because just reprimanding them about it was getting her nowhere. The Shadowbender roughly scratched Chiel behind his ears, who growled at him. He took this as a sign. He let himself go, relaxing quickly. "Right. Thanks buddy." He muttered to the Armadillo-wolf.

The three returned quickly from their day of scamming. Kuseron said nothing to Toph as she plopped herself down beside him, "Hey." The silence between them was long. The blind earthbender looked towards him, confusion in her foggy green eyes. Kuseron grunted, shifting slightly as Katara came walking up. "Guys, I think these scams have gone far enough..." She looked from Sokka to Aang, then to Toph. "If you keep doing them, something bad is going to happen."

Toph sighed. "Could you for once stop being a sourpuss and lighten up?" She flicked a piece of silver into Katara's hands.

"Oh? I'm sorry. You think I should be more like you?" Katara growled, glaring at the blind earthbender. "Some wild child?"

Toph shrugged. "Yeah! Maybe. Then you'd see how great we have it!" The girl smirked up at the Waterbender. "I mean look at us! We're traveling around the world making easy money, having fun with no parents to tell us what to do!"

Kuseron shook his head. Was that why? Was that her reason? Her parents?

Katara looked down at her sharply, "Ah! I see... You're acting like this because of your parents." The waterbender crossed her arms, her brows raised smugly.

Toph leaned back into Chiel. "Whatever."

Katara continued on. "Your parents were controlling over you, so you ran away and now you act like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't, you just feel guilty."

Toph scowled slowly, betraying her words. "I _do_ hate them."

Katara stared at her, the waterbender's eyes grew soft. "I don't think so. I think you miss them, but you just don't want to deal with that. So instead, you just act like this crazy person..."

Toph stood angrily. "Look. I ran away to help Aang."

Kuseron shifted uncomfortably, this looked like it was going to turn into another elemental battle. "You know what. It doesn't matter. These scams put us all at risk and we don't need that. We already have some third-eye freak after us!" Sokka decided to butt in, not knowing the air was thick with anger.

"Speaking of which, I think I've come up with a name for him..." He paused. "What do you think of, Sparky sparky boom man?"

Nobody replied to him. Sokka frowned. "Just think about it..."

Katara was glaring back at Toph again. "We have enough money, you need to stop this!"

Toph stomped her foot against the ground, a bag of money flying into her hand. "I'll stop when I want to! Not when _you_ tell me!" She angrily walked past the waterbender, creating an earth tent around herself and closing herself inside it. The Shadowbender stood, walking past Katara and towards the earth tent. He slipped around to the other side, sitting down in front of the small opening. "Toph...?"

The earthbender's head snapped up to glare at him angrily before she slid the opening down for him to at least crawl in enough to where she could close it behind him. Kuseron leaned back against the cool earth, staring at Toph for a long moment before speaking. "What's wrong?" He asked.

She huffed in response to him, mumbling incoherently under her breath.

The Shadowbender sighed. "I can't understand you, speak up."

The earthbender rubbed her eyes before frowning. "I do miss them." She replied hesitantly. Kuseron blinked. "Is that why you keep scamming, to put the guilt away?" He asked. Toph looked at him sightlessly, eyes narrowed to slits. She didn't reply to him. The Shadowbender frowned slowly. He could take that as a "yes". Toph drew in the dirt beneath her before sighing softly. "I do love them, even if they did treat me like a fragile artifact."

Kuseron tilted his head. "Then why don't you admit it?"

Toph's glare grew angry suddenly. "Why do you think?" She snapped at him.

He glared back at her, taking an angry, sharp breath in. "Hey! I'm just trying to help!" He hissed.

"Well that's music to my ears!" She stood, the walls of her earth tent flashed down and she glared down at him. "Help, coming from a boy who hardly knows or remembers his parents!"

Kuseron stared up at Toph, affronted. He didn't speak for the longest moment before he stood, towering over her with a scowl. "How dare you bring my parents into this! You know it's not my fault I can't remember them!"

"Oh, yeah! Give that excuse again you lowlife!" Toph growled.

He couldn't help but step back in shock, in pain... Kuseron's face fell before he tightened his hands into fists, and he drew in a sharp breath. Toph seemed to realize what she had said wrong, for she went to sputter out a quick apology, but he quickly spun away and stormed off. Ignoring the gazes of Katara, Aang and Toph's sightless one burning into his back.

* * *

"Well that's music to my ears!" Toph stood, the walls of her earth tent flashed down and she glared down at Kuseron. How dare he. Her parents was a touchy subject, so was his parents... "Help, coming from a boy who hardly knows or remembers his parents!" She regretted the words mentally, but that didn't stop her. Kuseron was towering over her now, "How dare you bring my parents into this! You know it's not my fault I can't remember them!" He snapped at her. Toph only matched his anger. "Oh, yeah! Give that excuse you lowlife!"

She felt anger coming off Kuseron in waves. Toph felt ashamed suddenly. Why had she done that...? Why did she just...? The Shadowbender drew in a deep breath. She expected him to slate her but instead he spun on his heel and stormed off. Toph frowned slowly. _What have I done?_ Katara and Aang were gone quickly, going to practice waterbending.

Toph tried to set her mind away from Kuseron, moving to counting the money they had.

Not soon after she had started counting money, did Sokka come back from town. He walked straight to her. "Toph, when I was in town, I found something that you aren't going to like." The warrior shuffled his feet for a second before he let something go. The rustling sounded a lot like paper. She sighed agitated. "Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper but..." She pointed towards it. "I suppose you are talking about what's on the paper."

Sokka shook the paper. "It's a wanted poster! Of you!" A bird cawed as he spoke. Did he really buy a messenger hawk? "They've nicknamed you the Runaway!"

She put on fake cheer. The earthbender really didn't feel like it. "A wanted poster? That's so great!" She paused and put into a anticipated voice. "The Runaway..." She grinned, although she didn't want to. "I love my new nickname! Is there a picture? Does it look good?"

Sokka took a second to look at the paper. "Well yeah, actually it does look pretty good." He shook his head. "But Toph, you're missing the point! Maybe Katara was right, these scams are drawing to much attention to us."

Toph rolled her eyes and stood, taking bag of money in her hands. "Don't be such a worrywart like your sister. Think of it this way." The thief would be proud of her, if she hadn't just probably ruined their friendship... "You now have enough money to help with the invasion plan." She hefted the bag in front of Sokka's face.

Sokka replied. "Well, that is true... I had an idea of making armor for Appa."

"Here's a little extra, to help you get a nice map of the fire nation." Using tactics like these would have really made Kuseron happy. Toph took a second to notice that even Chiel was gone. She mentally frowned. She hoped Kuseron hadn't gone off on his own. "Ya know what. Make it an atlas." She handed the bag to Sokka. "I do like expensive atlases..."

"Of course you do, and that is why this wanted poster is going to stay our little secret..." She replied and shoved the paper into a pocket and walked away. She was hoping to find Kuseron.

She had no such luck in finding the surreptitious Shadowbender.

* * *

Kuseron walked silently on. He didn't know how far he walked, he was just walking... The Shadowbender didn't like it. He'd go back eventually, he just had to follow the river. He was glad Chiel came along. He'd feel lonely otherwise. Toph just... Why did she do that? Why did she have to bring his parents into the whole mess? He had been trying to help her! Kuse scowled, brows furrowing in anger. _Lowlife. Scoundrel._ _Rift raff. Street rat. Urchin._ He was used to the names, but to hear it come from her lips. That had devastated him. She had said it with so much venom in her voice.

Kuseron swung his fists down in anger. Darkness danced around him and he took in deep breathes. He stabbed a hand towards the ground, slicing a rock in half with the shadows before gripping his head in frustration. _It's not my fault._

He fell down onto his backside and closed his eyes. Chiel curled up around him, nudging him lightly with his nose. "Stop it." He grumbled, pushing the mutt's muzzle away from him.

He just needed to get away from everything for a while. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to think straight, but Toph's stinging words just kept floating around in his head. He dropped his head into his hands. It was a while before he lifted his head again, eyes puffy with the tears that had streaked down his eyes. He lifted his gaze. It was a bit blurry, but someone was coming towards him. Chiel whined softly before running off. Kuseron blinked quickly before standing, surprise creeping across his face. It was the Metal man... He took in a deep breath, glaring darkly at him. Kuseron felt fear stun his body. He couldn't move.

He only had seconds to draw a shadow shield up but was sent flying back, head hitting hard against a jagged rock. He groaned, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, trying to shake the dizzy feeling off but he couldn't. Kuseron fell forward into the ground, blacking out.

* * *

"Well, look who decided to join us. Where have you two been? Off scamming again?" Toph heard the waterbender say bitterly as She and Sokka walked up to camp.

"Yes we were..." She replied. The earthbender was only half paying attention to Katara. Where was Kuseron and Chiel? They had left halfway through the day, and they were still gone. "And I don't suppose you think what you are doing is dangerous at all?" Katara groused. Toph sighed as she placed her bags down. Why did this girl have to nag and nag? "No. I don't." She replied tartly.

"Really?" Katara put her hands on her hips.

"Yes! Really." She growled back, narrowing her eyes.

"Well then... What's this?" The Waterbender griped at her, pulling out a sheet of paper roughly. Did they forget so easily? She was blind! Toph turned on her heel, "I don't know! I mean, what's with you people? I'm _blind_!" She cried, pulling her bottom eyelids down with her fingers for a second. If Kuseron was here... He was the only one who seemed to notice her problem. Katara shuffled the paper for a second. "It's a wanted poster of you! The Runaway!" Toph scowled. Did Katara go through her stuff? She should have gotten rid of that when she had the chance! "Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?"

"Where did you get that?" She snapped.

Katara tried to seem put off and cold, but Toph wasn't buying into it. "It doesn't matter where I got it. The fact is—"

"You went through my stuff! You had no right!" She cut the waterbender off, glaring at her sightlessly with all the anger she felt. "You're stuff was messy, and I was just straightening up and I happened to stumble across it!" Katara remarked. Why was she doing this? "That's a lie!" Toph could tell she was lying. Katara was visibly hiding it, but she felt her heart racing with it, and there was a change in her breath. "You're lying Katara!" She jabbed a finger at her, scowling again.

She swatted her hand away. "Fine! It's a lie, but you've been so out of control lately—" Katara gripped her hand. "I knew something was up, I knew you were hiding something and you _were_!"

Toph slapped the paper out of Katara's hand and walked past her. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

She stopped, "Oh really? What are you going to do? Send me to my room?"

"I wish I could!" Katara grounded out.

"Well you can't! Because you're not my mom and you're not their mom!" Katara was acting like their mothers. She had no right to. Sure, she could be a little protective, but going overboard when they were just trying to survive? Toph wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I never said I was!" Katara protested.

"No! But you certainly act like it!" She turned her sightless gaze to the boys for a second before looking back towards Katara. "You think it's your job to boss everyone around, well it's not. You're a regular kid like us, so stop acting like you can tell me what to do!" She grunted. "I can do whatever I want." Katara was getting desperate. She could tell. Toph sneered inwardly at her discovery. "I don't act that way! Sokka! Do I act motherly?" She was trying to get backed up her, but Sokka, "Hey, I'm trying to stay out of this one."

Katara turned her attention to Aang. "What do you think Aang? Do I act like a mom?"

"Well, I uh—" The boy didn't get to finish his sentence. Katara cut in. "Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!"

Wasn't that enough proof? She just did something that a mother would say to a young child! Toph grounded her teeth together, trying to keep from bursting out and earthbending the girl into the air. "Yes ma'am!" Aang replied, sitting up straight at her command.

Toph huffed in annoyance, turning to walk off. "I can't be around you right now!"

"Well I can't be around you!" Katara cried after her.

* * *

He didn't know how long it had been. Kuseron heard someone being thrown into the cell with him. He stirred slightly, still weak from his encounter with the Metal man. "Hey! What kind of cell is this?" He lifted his head from his knees, trying to make out who had been thrown in here with him. "A wooden one." The guard replied. The Shadowbender rubbed his eyes before scowling slowly.

It was Toph...

"I told you so. You would get caught sooner or later..." He rumbled from deep in his chest, coming off as dark and angry. The Blind girl looked back in his direction. "Kuseron...?"

"Yeah. Welcome to a nice cozy cell you're going to be stuck in for a while." He grumbled in response. He watched the blind earthbender feel her way over to him. "Why are you in here?" She asked, slumping beside him with a frown. He really wasn't on speaking terms with her, but he'd give her the explanation. "Metal man. He found me... This was a trap." He muttered. "He knew you were going for the money so he made them put up posters, knowing that you'd go for the ultimate scam. If you did this with anyone, they'll be in here soon." Then the silence drew in. He didn't speak anymore. He had nothing else to say to her... Besides he was just a lowlife.

Toph looked at him sightlessly. "Kuseron?"

"What?" He snapped at her, not looking at her. "You still want to talk to the riff raff? The urchin? The street rat?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

He could see the blind earthbender frowning more. She looked hurt. Kuseron didn't care. She had brought that on herself. The Shadowbender lifted his head, watching as Katara was thrown into the cell. "Welcome home." He said sarcastically. The waterbender looked at him. "Kuseron? Did you get caught stealing?"

He shook his head. "No. Metal man found me." He replied shortly. The Waterbender sat down beside Toph, who had gone an curled up, her head buried in her knees.

"So it _was_ a trap, an actually trap!" Toph exclaimed.

Kuseron scowled. Had she not heard him explain that to her a minute ago?

Katara's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Really? No kidding! Is that why we are sitting in a wooden cell? I hadn't noticed."

Toph scowled at her but replied. "He wants Aang."

Katara sighed. "I was so stupid! I knew this would happen! See? This is why I'm against these scams!"

Kuseron watched the interaction between the two with little interest, but he had nothing else to do. "But this, was _your_ idea." Katara leaned her head down on her knees, frowning. "I know, I just wanted to show you that I wasn't so motherly. I wanted to show you that I _could _have fun too." Kuseron looked over at Katara. She was trying to prove a point? He found that somewhat funny. Toph looked aside to her. "Katara. You _are_ fun. At least, fun to argue with."

"I know your relationship with your parents are complicated, and I shouldn't have said what I said..." Katara murmured.

Toph sighed, fiddling with her hands for a second. "I was mad when I said that and well, also because, it was true. I try not to think about it but when I left, I probably really hurt them..." She whispered, tears streaking down her face. Kuseron did not move, watching Katara hug the blind earthbender.

"Okay. Touching moment over... How are we going to get out of here and stop Metal man?" The Shadowbender mused.

Toph and Katara looked at him. "Do you have enough energy to cut a way out of here Kuseron?" The waterbender asked.

Kuse shook his head. "I'm still rebuilding from earlier. I used a lot of energy when summoning the shield to keep myself from getting blown up. It drained me..."

Toph stood up, pushing against the wood. "Then what are we going to do?" Katara muttered a bit hopelessly.

"I don't know, I wish we had some earth or water!" Toph said quickly.

Kuseron sighed. "I may be able to summon enough energy to start the cut, but I won't be able to do it for long." He whispered.

"Can you do it?"

Why did Toph enough ask. "I can." He replied sourly to her while he had been nice to Katara, he _was not_ through with her. He tuned them out for a moment to focus on the energy he had. He drew in a deep breath and closed his hand, a blade formed around his clenched fist and he groaned. Energy depletion, it wasn't a pretty thing. He began to cut into the wood, trying to keep his focus on the darkness. _Focus. Keep Focus._ He let out a ragged breath. It looked like he had gotten halfway through... He let his hand go, moaning.

"Katara? What are you doing?" Toph questioned.

Kuseron scooted back into the corner, staring bleakly at the two girls. "Making my own water." Katara was running in place. He saw the logic. Sweat was a form of water, albeit a disgusting form but it was still good. She turned to the wood, using the water to cut into the place he had already begun to cut at.

"Katara! You're a genius! A sweaty, stinky genius!" Toph cried.

Kuseron was barely able to pay attention. Although he was able to keep in tune to them, he was stuck with a blurry vision. Katara had cut through the wood by the sound of it. "Katara, go! I will help Kuseron!"

He scowled but it wasn't as menacing as he wanted it to be. Toph stepped over beside him, pulling him up onto his feet. He leaned against her slightly but tried his best at walking on his own. Toph silently got him to the door before she stopped, looking up at him. "Kuse?"

He looked down at her. "What are you waiting for? We have to help Aang!" He growled at her.

Toph's face contorted a bit, anger visible but she drew in a deep breath and calmed down. "I wanted to apologize about earlier. I was lashing out because I was angry. I had no right to say what I did."

Kuseron was silent for a long time before he let go of his tense posture and slumped against her more. The girl supported him and smiled slightly. Apparently she understood that this was his apology acceptance. He didn't want to give in. He didn't want to show weakness. They quickly found Sokka who was with Katara and they ran to where Aang was. Katara quickly waterbended ice around the Metal man's head. "Aang, get up!" They turned and ran off, Toph took a moment to stop and send a rock flying at him.

That was the end of that chase. Kuseron groaned as he stared up at the moving sky. Chiel was curled up behind him. He was glad. The Shadowbender looked down at Toph, who had resumed her position at his side. He smiled softly before watching them descend. They all landed and the boys were the first to get out. He stayed where he was, he'd rather sleep on the saddle tonight. He could barely move.

He watched Katara and Toph exchange a few words about sending a letter to her parents... Kuse watched them for a little before closing his weary eyes, drifting to sleep.

* * *

**Enjoy it guys. I'm working as much as I can...**


	12. Surprise! Maybe

He was trying to sleep. Really... Everyone else thought it was funny to tell ghost stories. Kuseron was hardly paying attention, snapping his head up when he began to doze off. The Shadowbender sighed. Toph suddenly placed a hand on the ground, "Can you hear that? I hear people under the mountain!" Toph cried. Aang and Sokka quickly threw themselves to Katara, they were all equally scared. Kuseron snickered at them. "And they're screaming." He watched Sokka scoff.

"Nice try." The warrior muttered, pretending not to be scared anymore.

"I'm serious!" Toph shot back at him. "I hear something."

"You're probably just jumpy from the Ghost stories." Katara replied.

Kuseron sunk into the ground with an evil grin. The three screamed in surprise as he disappeared. The Shadowbender appeared behind the three and he tapped Katara's shoulder. The three slowly turned their heads and he whispered, "Boo." The three jumped back from him. He covered his face with his hands, trying to conceal his sneer and laughter.

Toph frowned. "It just stopped."

Aang and Katara were still clinging to one another. "Ok. Now I'm _really_ scared."

Kuseron turned around, he felt... There was someone there. The Shadowbender narrowed his eyes. _Why is this presence, so...?_ He watched as an old woman walk from the darkness. Who was she? The Woman spoke loudly. "Hello children." The three dunderheads behind him screamed again and ran around to Toph. He looked at the woman with his blood red gaze._ Who's this?_ "Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the woods alone. I have an inn nearby, why don't you come there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"

He stared back at Hama, who had her gaze on him. She hadn't moved her gaze, not even to look at the others. Kuse bowed slowly to her. "Yes please, we'd welcome that." He replied. Hama smiled at him before turning and walking towards the nearby town they had seen earlier. They followed after the old woman. As she had said, she had an inn. Kuseron was a bit wary of the woman. He stared down at his tea as it was served, dipping a finger into it before taste it. No traces of anything harmful...

He took a tentative sip, watching the woman. "Thanks for letting us stay here tonight. You have a lovely inn." Katara said to Hama.

The elderly woman smiled. "Aren't you sweet. You know, you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you've been camping in." Hama sat down, taking her own cup of tea and slowly taking a drink.

Sokka slammed his tea down beside him. Some hot droplets splashing onto his skin. He hissed at the idiot. Sokka drew back for a second before turning to Hama. "What do you mean disappearing?"

"When the moon turns full people walk in, and they don't come out." Hama whispered, staring down at the teapot before standing. "Who wants more tea?" She was instantly smiley... Kuse didn't like it. He really didn't. She was a bit off her rocker. The Shadowbender scrunched his nose up in thought, staring across at the woman. She matched his gaze before putting her teapot down. "Don't worry. You'll all be completely safe here."

Hama smiled more, clasping her hands together. "Why don't I show you to your rooms and you all can get a nice night's rest?"

She showed everyone their rooms, until he was last. He went to duck into Toph's room, but Hama stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?" She questioned lightly. Kuseron scowled at her. She dare stand in his way? The Shadowbender ran a hand through his hair. "Didn't you see? She's blind, plus she's my sister." Him and his honeyed words. Hama narrowed her eyes, probably search for any signs that he was lying. She'd find no traces because he was better than her. The Woman nodded. "Alright."

He closed the door behind him and looked at Toph. "Hey." He said softly. The earthbender smiled at him. They were used to sleeping side by side now... They often cuddled with one another, even though it seemed very off for the both of them, considering their personalities. Kuseron fell into the bed, but pushed up onto his elbows. "I don't trust that woman." He muttered.

Toph looked at him inquisitively. "Why not? She offered a place to stay."

He rolled over and scooted up beside her. "I dunno. She's strange." Toph curled into his side, snuggly fitting like a puzzle piece. The earthbender didn't say anything back. He entwined his fingers with hers, curling up with her. She shifted a bit beside him before resting her head on his chest. Kuse lightly pressed his lips to her cheek, watching her blush in the moonlight.

Tomorrow would be a new day.

* * *

He couldn't believe he was having this conversation at the breakfast table... Toph was trying to hide behind him, but everyone was a little shocked. Hama was glaring at him. Kuseron scowled menacingly at all of them. Sokka and Aang flinched but Katara only toughened her gaze, narrowing her eyes. "Come off it guys. Thought all of you would know by now... I mean, are all of you that thickheaded?" He muttered, crossing his arms.

Katara stuck her nose in the air slightly, "No. How could we tell when you two acted so cold to one another. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Hm..." He snapped his fingers in a fake way. "Why not Sweetcheeks?" He grinned slightly at her outraged look. Katara was fuming over this whole thing. How they had found out, he would never know. Probably because She had come in and found them cuddling together? "Usually when trying to keep a secret, you _want_ to keep it a secret."

Sokka and Aang were to thoroughly shocked to say anything about their relationship. Toph curled her arms around his left arm. "Why not just show it openly?" Aang managed to say.

He let his nostrils flare. "We're together, get over it!" He growled. Hama decided to butt in. She stood and smiled at all of them. "Why don't we go shopping?"

They went shopping.

* * *

You could say he was... quite busy. The Shadowbender had been doing little except sleep and meditate lately. Nobody tried to bother him, except for Hama. The woman would occasionally check on him, asking him if he needed anything or what not. He had learned from Toph that she was a waterbender. The only reason he was meditating was because he was talking to Murmur.

"The landscape here is quite extraordinary." He mused, pulling his knees to his chest as he watched the sun dip below the horizon. _Yes. This place can be quite beautiful at times..._ Murmur replied. The spirit was standing, watching the sun dip away as well. "How far does the Spirit realm go?" Kuse asked, staring up at what he suspected he'd look like in the future. _I'm not actually sure._ _I have only traveled so far._

The Shadowbender frowned. "Right." Murmur stretched slightly. _Where exactly are you in the Fire nation?_ Kuseron shifted at the question. He really didn't know. He knew they were near the capital but he really just didn't care until they got there. He shrugged a shoulder, "Don't know exactly."

_That's very... unobservant._ Murmur replied with his brows raised. Kuseron scoffed. Nobody knew that they were not Fire Nation Colonials, well besides Hama. "So? Besides, the only person who knows is Hama." The Spirit shifted at the name, face holding some recognition. _Hama?_ Kuseron nodded. "Yeah. The Old woman we're staying with."

The Spirit looked down at him, _Our past life knew her. Tonrar knew her._ Kuse shifted now, standing. "Does she know who I am?"

Murmur frowned. _She might remember the blood red gaze, but otherwise I doubt it._ Kuseron stared at his feet. So he had known Hama before she had been thrown into a Fire Nation prison. Why did he not try to stop it? "Did... Tonrar try to stop her from getting captured?" Murmur shook his head. _We were old. We tried to get them to show mercy to her at the least, but they took her away anyways._

Kuseron sighed. This was all so confusing. Past lives and such, they made him feel sick on the inside. It made him feel weird. "She took Katara out today, Hama's supposed to be helping her learn more Waterbending tricks..."

Murmur did not answer him. The Spirit seemed distant for a second before drawing back, as if in pain. _You're friend, Katara, she's in trouble._ Kuseron scrambled up. "What? What's going on?"

_Hama._ The dark spirit replied.

Kuseron gawked for a minute. "Why?" He managed to say. Murmur shrugged. _You need to help her._

Kuseron broke his trance faster than he could think. Anxiety ran through his veins like cold water. There was a ball in his stomach, a ball of stone or ice. His whole body screamed at him, awakening slower than he was moving. He darted into the streets of town. Where were they? Toph hadn't been in the room. So she... They must have realized too. Kuse picked up his pace, using the darkness around him to speed up his steps.

He flew through the forest, looking for any signs of them.

"They threw me in prison to rot! Along with my brothers and sisters! They deserve the same!" Kuseron melted into the shadows, watching Hama from behind Katara. The Woman was crazy, senile! She lost her mind! Katara was defiant as ever, but as to what she was defying, it was beyond him. "You must carry on my work!" Hama was glaring at Katara.

"I won't! I won't use bloodbending and I won't let you keep terrorizing this town!" Katara cried. _Bloodbending?_ Kuse narrowed his eyes and flinched a bit when Katara's arm went all wacky. The Waterbender looked like she was fighting herself. Hama cackled. "You should have learned the technique before you turned against me!" The Shadowbender was determining when to step in. "It's impossible to fight your way out of my grip!" Katara was looking around frantically. "I control every muscle, every vein in your body!" Katara was sent around on her own, groaning as she tried to fight Hama's tricks.

Kuseron summoned a small ball of darkness in his hands. "Stop, please." Katara sobbed as he watched her. This was different then what he had ever encountered. Suddenly, Hama seemed to falter. What was going on now? Katara slowly stood, but it seemed to be on her own accord. "You're not the only one who draws power from the moon. My bending is more powerful than yours Hama. Your technique is useless on me!" Katara cried, she drew water up from the ground, sending it flying at Hama who sent it back at Katara. His friend flashed it back to Hama who sent a stronger torrent of water at her, but Katara simply slammed her palm forward. The Water flew to the sides of her, leaving her unscathed.

Hama looked astonished. Katara moved to attack again, but he flashed forward and gripped her wrists. "K-Kuseron!" Katara cried. Hama took this moment to get ready a blast of water. The Shadowbender turned his head slowly, glaring at Hama, whom froze. The older waterbender looked as if someone from the past had come up. Kuse released Katara's wrists. The Waterbender rubbed them and stared at him strangely. He said nothing until he felt his body tense. Hama thought she could get an upper hand by Bloodblending, she wasn't.

Kuseron sneered as he turned, by his own accord. Hama looked flabbergasted again. "W-Who are you?" The woman asked.

He made a noise much akin to "Tch" and narrowed his eyes. "It's Tonrar. Don't you remember?"

Hama's eyes lit in recognition. "But how? You haven't aged a day since..." Kuseron could only laugh.

"I did age. I just..." He trailed off for a moment. "Let's just say I got a second chance." Hama narrowed her eyes. Kuseron's eyes flew past her. Sokka and Aang were running up. It seemed a blur. He wasn't paying attention to Sokka anyways. The boy was accusing Hama and all of that. Hama used the boys against Katara and Him. Kuseron dodged past Aang and Sokka, coming up behind Hama. He readied himself for a strike but felt himself grow stiff. He was able to free one hand, which he sent off a Shadowbending slice at her. Then it felt strange, Kuse tried to fight it, he really did. His neck turned, before he knew it he felt himself connect to the ground. In his blurring vision, he saw Hama hit the ground too.

Dying wasn't as bad as it seemed. It was rather peaceful.

* * *

Katara heard it, a low –_crack—_. She had to stop Hama. Sokka and Aang were flying at one another. Hama stumbled slightly at Kuseron's blow, that gave her the opening. Katara focused quickly before she used Hama's own technique against her. The woman let out a thin gasp as she felt it. Katara watched her fall forward, revealing a fallen Kuseron. Aang and Sokka were checking themselves and they both sighed in relief.

"Kuseron!" Katara cried. The Waterbender crossed over to him quickly, sliding across the damp ground to roll him over. She drew back at what she saw. The Shadowbender's neck... It was oddly angled. It dawned on her. Hama had snapped Kuse's neck through Bloodbending. She felt tears start to stain her eyes. How was Toph going to react?

Sokka and Aang came over, her brother grasped her shoulder and Aang bent down beside her, running a hand over the Shadowbender's face to close his eyes. Katara lifted her head as she heard people running forward. She looked back at Toph, who was leading the people that had been trapped under the mountain. A Man stepped forward, looking at Hama and then to the three that were crouched around Kuseron. "Is Hama dead?"

Katara shook her head in the "Yes" manner and frowned, trying to contain her sobbing. They bustled around for a moment before some men carried Hama's dead body off. Toph slowly walked forward. She had been standing there for quite a time. "What's wrong with Kuse?" She managed to say. She didn't reply to the Earthbender, breaking out into a full blast cry. Toph pushed Sokka aside and bent down, staring down sightlessly at Kuseron. "What happened?" Katara's lips quivered as she tried to speak. "Hama—She—She tried to teach me bloodbending," She broke off into a sob again. "K-Kuseron," She stumbled over the boy's name. "He came out of nowhere. He talked to Hama, he seemed like he already knew how to resist bloodbending but when Sokka and Aang came, he must have, Hama must have snapped his neck with bloodbending!" She felt the tears escape more and more. She couldn't say anymore.

Toph was looking at her, the green eyes wanting to refuse the truth. She stood, "You did it on purpose! You let Hama kill him!" She cried.

Katara shook her head. "N-No! I didn't let him die on purpose! I'd never do that to a friend." She whimpered.

Toph's sudden anger dissipated, before she dissolved into sorrow. Katara realized that they must have really liked one another... Sokka went to comfort her, while Aang to did the same. Katara quietly looked down at Kuseron. He was dead.

How could he be dead...?

Katara bowed her head. She wondered what Chiel would do when the Shadowbender did not return to Appa. The Armadillo-Wolf and Kuse had been joined at the hip as best friends, even if Chiel was an animal. "I'm sorry." She whispered, lifting her head slightly.

A groan escaped someone's lips. Katara lifted her head more and scrambled backwards.

Kuseron! He was—He—He was sitting up!

The Shadowbender lifted his hands, gripping his head before a –_snap_— happened. Everyone froze. Kuseron stood slowly, almost in a daze and sighed. "I was rather peaceful." Katara stared blinked. He just... He was dead seconds ago. Now he was...? Toph was already hugging him when she stood up. She turned and cried into Sokka's shoulder.

What happened?

* * *

Toph silently sighed. Kuseron had been asleep for days. She could understand though. He had somehow come back to life... Even minutes after his death, he had began to breathe again. Kuse wouldn't say how he came back or just didn't know. So she just assumed that he had come back by fate or something. Katara was suspicious though. The Earthbender didn't understand. Why would she be suspicious of the Spirits returning a life to them?

Aang was currently freaking out about things. He had just made Sokka start climbing a cliff. She almost felt sorry for Sokka. Toph reached for the water skin, putting it to her lips and beginning to drink but Aang cut in, "Don't drink that!" She spat the water out, it landed on Katara. "Why?" She cried. "Is it poisoned?"

Aang went on to explain that she had to pee during the invasion in his dreams. Toph mentally sighed.

Then, Aang did something incredibly stupid.

"Wake up Kuseron! Wake up!" Aang cried, shaking the boy.

From what she could tell, Kuseron sat up and sent Aang flying with an Angry Appa-like roar. "Don't touch me!" Then he promptly laid back down.

He was asleep in under a minute.

* * *

Kuseron stirred slowly, an unfamiliar sensation running up his back. "Ow." He muttered. He opened his eyes, shifting his head to look sideways. Toph was quietly kneading into his skin. Rubbing knots out of his back. He laid his head back down on his arms, burying his nose back into his arms. "Thanks." He mumbled around his arms. Toph said nothing.

He let his eyes wander. They landed on Aang. He was still a nervous wreck supposedly. "How's Aang?" The Air nomad was talking to Sokka. Toph stopped rubbing soothing circles into his back. "He's still a nervous wreck. Katara tried to make him relax, but he thought the hot air felt like Firelord Ozai's fire around him. Sokka's trying to help him now..." Toph began to rub the circles again near his shoulders. "Next, I'm helping him." He shifted slightly. Kuseron watched the boy scream into a Koala-sheep. The two seemed to disagree over something and Toph stood. "I'll be back later."

Nothing seemed to work for Aang. Kuseron was quietly eating when Aang came back around to them. The Air nomad sat down. They talked for a little until everyone laid down to sleep.

Kuse did not go to sleep. He watched Aang with a serious frown. He needed some real help...

Aang screamed out his lungs. Everyone came rushing over.

"I'm going to stay awake until the invasion." Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy.

Kuseron reached into the ground through a dark portal and pulled Aang through one. He pulled Aang's head up through the hole and glared down at him. "How about you let me try a crack at your damn stress." Aang blinked a few times. Kuse rolled his eyes irritably and pushed him back into the darkness. Aang yelled again. Kuseron pulled him back up. "Yes?" Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy now, too. Aang sputtered out, "Yeah. Sure. Crack away." The Boy visibly shivered.

Kuseron stood and motioned to the boy. "Follow me." Aang stumbled after him. The Shadowbender knew the effects of the darkness, if one stayed to long in it. "Sit." He commanded. Aang sat down and Kuseron sat down in front of him.

"Meditative position." He snapped. "Close your eyes."

Aang did as he was told. Kuseron took up his meditative stance as well, watching Aang. "Search inside yourself. Tell me what your fear is."

Aang didn't reply for a little before saying, "Losing to Firelord Ozai, failing the world..." Was his response.

"Elaborate." He said. Kuseron watched Aang twitch a bit. After a few seconds, Aang only screamed and got up, running away. Kuseron got up, shaking his head. _Oh well. Guess they'll figure out something._

* * *

He was finally asleep. Kuseron breathed out a sigh of relief. They had all been thinking for an hour on how to help Twinkletoes.

Kuseron sat down against a rock, sniffing. Toph sat down beside him and curled into him. "Goodnight." She whispered.

He lifted his eyes, staring into the sky. He felt slightly... awkward. Tomorrow was the invasion.

"...Goodnight, luv." He murmured.

* * *

**A/N: Tada! Episode 8 through 9. Enjoy!**


	13. The Day of Black Sun

**anonymous-hehe: I'm so sorry about your heart! My heartstrings hurt when I am unable to update too, because everyone drops little comments here and there that makes me feel horrible for not updating quicker. As most of my readers probably know, my computer crashed and I lost Word on my computer. So I have to write everything up in either fanfic's Doc Manager or on dA. And about Zuko, I plan to include them meeting during the invasion and a bit earlier.. As a sort of "run-in" meeting(s).**

**Lycoris1305: Thank you! I spent 4 months planning out Kuseron. He's actually very intricate but simple at the same time. The concept of the New moon is because it's like a brand new start for the moon, for Kuseron it's his "restart" life. With Darkness comes a price and as in the situation of Combustion Man, his powers are renewed every new moon. When he used the shield, he was almost drained of any powers he had. The New moon is the restart button. I picked up the ideas for Shadowbending by the Snake stance, because it represents Wisdom, Knowledge, Precision, Experience and Clarity. Which he has all thanks to Murmur. Murmur will always continue to reincarnate as long as their is an Avatar. The Sacrifice... Heheh... Read away friend.**

**Now, sorry this took a while guys. It's Part 1 and Part 2 together, plus it took a lot of planning. And Checkout my dA account! You can Ask Kuseron questions! :D I'll try to the best of my ability to draw.**

**Enjoy my loyal Readers,**

**JtJ**

* * *

This was one of the many perks of being a thief. He had convinced Sokka to let him sneak into the city. Of course, it wasn't to hard to do. He was already in the Palace. His main objective was to pose as a guard until the Day of Black Sun. Objectives 1-2 were complete. Now he had to find a guard. The Shadowbender slipped down the outer wall and scowled as he landed, _I need one inside. They'll be taking care of these fools._ Kuseron grumbled in thought. He ducked under a cavalcade, the men too busy carrying the Royals inside to notice him slip under. He shuffled along while watching the feet of the men as they moved, making sure they weren't stopping soon. "Prince Zuko and M'lady Azula! Welcome back!" Another pair of feet walked forward as the men slowed down. Kuseron knew what was coming next.

In a swift movement he was planted firmly on his stomach, flat as a carpet, and nose touching the ground. Luckily he had been able to squeeze up into boards and into one of the seats, but also pushing up the cushioning in the booth-like transporter. "Ah." A cold voice rung forward, feminine but very cruel-like. "Make sure to reupholster the seating when you are done, these seats are growing uncomfortable." Kuseron mentally cursed. He slowly arched his upper body forward, slipping through the boards to flatten himself to the where the feet boards where. "Wait." His acute hearing, heard two pairs of feet step onto the hard concrete floor. "Lift it up." A more masculine voice commanded. The girl was Princess Azula and the boy was Prince Zuko...

_Lee._ Kuseron growled mentally.

He was _in_ the boards. They would not be able to spot him easily. "Higher." Azula snapped. Kuseron froze. A head peered into view and he shifted out of her sight. Azula's cold gaze didn't register him. Kuse had heard she was the meticulous type. "Alright. Let's go Zuzu." Kuseron flexed out of the boards, hearing shuffling feet and the ground beginning to move beneath him. He dropped down and quickly rolled into darkness, letting out a breath that he hadn't know he was holding. He ducked into the darkness and sneered at a few passing Dai Li agents.

He could pass as one of them. The Shadowbender darted forward using hooks to quickly dig into the soft wall and climb upwards until he reached the ceiling. He slammed a hook into the ceiling and then the other, ignoring the particles that fell onto the Dai Li below. One stopped, looking around quickly. Kuse swung forward, gripping onto a ledge, which he climbed up onto silently, watching the now lone Dai Li agent.

He leapt down behind the Dai Li agent, gripping the man's neck before he twisted, almost savoring in the soft -crack- as it happened. Kuse quickly pulled him into a spare closet and leaned him into the darkness, stripping him of his cloak and hat. He had stone hands, thanks to Toph, who eagerly created them unbeknownst to the reason why. They looked exactly alike the ones the man wore. And to propel them forward, he'd use the darkness of course. He slipped out of the closet, making sure it was locked permanently by breaking off the handle. They could always replace it but not for a while... Kuse slipped his hands into his sleeves, beginning to make off and wing it as to where to go but stopped, when... Zuko spoke. "Guard, why are you out of post?"

Kuseron turned around to face him, the shadows hiding his eyes. "Sorry sir, I stopped to investigate something." He bowed his head and turned, beginning to walk away again when he yet again stopped him.

"What's your name?"

He slowly sneered. "My name?" He looked back at him. "It's Kuseron, _Lee_." He walked away with Prince Zuko staring at his retreating back with surprise on his face. Kuse made his way down halls before stopping at a door clearly marked, Dai Li. A hand grabbed his shoulder and whisked him around, in a flurry of robes he was dragged into a deserted hall and he scowled at Zuko. _Why is he so persistent?_ The Shadowbender glared back at the golden-eyed boy. "What?" He snapped._  
_

The Prince was eerily calm. "You were a Dai Li agent the whole time in Ba Sing Se?"

Is that what he believed?

"Yes." Was his simply sour reply.

The Prince looked around before pointing at him in a manner that was used for small children. "Stay." Zuko walked away briskly.

_Woof._ He snarled silently and ignored the man's command, walking to the Dai Li room and sighed when he got in. Bunks. Looks like he was sleeping with _them._

Kuseron went to the last empty bunk, "Spirits help me." He grumbled under his breath.

* * *

She was up early today.

She had hardly slept... Toph shifted on the rock she sat upon, thoughts on Kuseron. He had left late in the night... He had just disappeared into the darkness. Not even Chiel had know he left, because the Armadillo-wolf had shown confusion in his own way. He and Sokka had a loud argument before he had disappeared. It had not ended well. Now, Kuse was just gone. _He's coming back, isn't he?_ She leaned her head into her hand. Sokka was stormily looking over the paper that she knew were maps. Katara handed him a cup of water and She felt Twinkletoes appear. "Top of the morning Momo!"

_Is he thinking of me?_ Katara stood. Toph put on her best easy-going, carefree smile. "Sounds like you slept well."

Aang was practically shaking. "Like a baby Moose-lion." He stepped into a mock fighting stance. "I'm ready to face the Firelord."

Toph spoke, fists flying forward as she spoke. "So what's your strategy for taking him down? Gonna get glow on and hit him with some avatar action?"

Aang slumped. She mentally sighed. It was one of his Avatar speeches. She wasn't listening. Her thoughts were turned back to Kuseron. "You know what I just heard?" She lifted a hand, using it as a pretend Twinkletoes-mouth. "Blah Blah Blah Spiritual Mumbo Jumbo Blah Blah Something about space."

"Oh no..." Katara whispered. "Sokka do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" Sokka moved to stand, staring out in the direction of the sea. "No! That _is_ the invasion!"

She and Aang ran down to where the ships were to dock, quickly bending them a dock. She hung back, acknowledging Haru with a tiny nod. Where was Kuseron? Wouldn't he have come by now? Toph frowned slowly. Chiel quietly sat beside her, sniffing at people here and there but sat there, facing towards the stairs they had created. Kuseron... Was he a coward? Did he change his mind at the last minute?

~o~O~o~

_Toph shifted in her sleep, peeking her eyes open slightly. "Kuse...?"_

_The Shadowbender smiled at her. He seemed like he was packed up. Was he going somewhere?_

_"Don't worry luv." He murmured, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be back later."_

_She closed her eyes, murmuring under her breath as she sunk back into the Armadillo-wolf._

~o~O~o~

She was snapped out of her reverie by familiar heavy footsteps, "No way! Is that-?" She broke off. The Hippo lifted her up into a bear hug. "Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!" The overgrown Earthbender shouted, lifting her away from him. She glared at him sightlessly. "You guys here for a rematch?" She grounded out, balling up her fists with a scowl. The Boulder spoke. "Negotiatory, The Boulder and The Hippo no longer fight for people's entertainment. Now!" She suspected he made some kind of dramatic move after the "Now". "We fight for our kingdom!"

She relaxed, smiling. "Sweet."

* * *

Kuseron was not a fan of mess halls. Bars, he could do... Mess halls? NO. The Worst part about it was that Prince Zuko was watching him, like a hawk. He must have been scowling or had steam coming out of his ears, because one of the Dai Li agents, Gan, asked. "Hey, Chung. What's wrong?" He snapped his gaze at Gan, frowning. "I'm fine. Just slept wrong." He bit out between his grinding teeth. What did Zuko want? He looked like he was prepared to come and take him aside, like a child. Gan frowned. "Bud, seriously, You're making your own soup boil. What's wrong?"

He slammed his stone hand into the table. "I said 'I'm fine'!" He hissed. Gan froze at the anger. He and Chung must have been friends. Everyone was staring at him, including Lord Ozai and Azula, both had their eyes narrowed to the exact same slits. Prince Zuko looked mildly abashed, for a reason he did not know of. Ty Lee was staring at him with a smirk. She had talked to him before he had come to breakfast. Asking if he wanted to go to a storage closet for a while. He had profusely refused and stepped around her. Mai looked somewhat bored, but her eyebrows betrayed her. She was somewhat surprised. It must not have been common for a guard to do this...

He stormed out, a little imaginary thundercloud over his head. Only a minute after he had stormed out, leaning on a window sill did someone show up. Except it wasn't who he was expecting... "Agent, what seems to be the problem?" His eyes flashed behind him. Why was Azula speaking to him? He quickly made up a story. "Princess... I, well, it's just that I miss someone. Someone that was very special to me..." He murmured. It wasn't a real lie. It was half true. He missed Toph.

He wondered if she thought him a coward or just missed him. Azula leaned beside him and gave a small smile. He was almost surprised. "Well, why not write her a letter and send her a messenger hawk?" Why was Azula being so nice?

Kuseron twiddled his thumbs, looking out the window with a frown. "She'll think I'm some sort of traitor m'lady." Azula placed a hand on his shoulder. He was tempted to shiver. She was still evil, but at least she had some side of evilly niceness to her? "Then you return to Ba Sing Se, march to her house and rip out her heart!"

_So much for the nice part..._ He grumbled in thought, shrugging off her hand. "O-Of course Princess." Making sure to put the nervousness in to the T.

Azula was prepared to say something else but Zuko stepped in. Kuse was actually grateful for the Fire prince's step-in. "Azula, Father wants to speak to you." The Princess smirked at him and then strutted off. He lifted his gaze, looking at Zuko who had a brow raised in a certain questioning manner.

The Shadowbender harrumphed. "What?"

"Why are you here? I know you-" Zuko was cut off by a stone hand, covering his mouth.

The Shadowbender narrowed his eyes, "I _am_ a Dai Li agent. Do not make such accusations without such proof." He growled, the stone hand was pulled away and reappeared on his hand.

Prince "Zuzu" frowned. "Combustion man gave me a report about an extra boy with the Avatar. And I know you," Kuse froze. "Are him."

How did he know? And who was Combustion man? _Metal man?_ He looked down the hallway before quickly pinning the Prince to the wall, quicker than he could react. "You tell anyone, you're neck is gonna be snapped like a fucking twig." He snarled. Zuko calmly pushed him away. "I won't."

Kuseron let surprise cross his face. "You won't?"

"No. I've decided, after some _advice_, that I'm going to join the Avatar."

The Shadowbender almost fainted. _I must be dreaming..._

* * *

Toph sighed mentally as they were finishing up breakfast-lunch. Sokka was about to give his speech. _Whoopdedoo..._ She thought to herself as She looked aside to where Chiel was. There was still no sign of Kuseron. She was thinking that he really _had_ taken the coward's way out. Chiel was still waiting, in his armor, only whining occasionally. Sokka was nervous, it was obvious, his heartbeat was way high and he was breathing erratically. "Don't worry, you'll do great." Hakoda said quietly to his son. The boy wonder gulped and made his way to the stage.

"Good morning everyone!" Toph felt him hit the ground. She couldn't help but grin slightly. Here, Kuseron would have made some sarcastic or sappy comment and they both then would be scolded by Katara. _Nervous much?_ She mimicked his voice in her head. The grin disappeared.

"So... As you know," Sokka was going to state the obvious. "Today we are invading the Fire Nation, _and _I know you know that... 'Cause why else would you be here."

_Someone help him._ She grumbled in thought.

"Hehuh... Anyway!" Sokka was trying to pick up his act, but was failing... Miserably. "As you know the Firelord's palace is here!" Sokka was pointing at a map, probably. She couldn't tell. Sometimes she _did _wish she could see, contrary to popular belief. "No wait. It's uh... Here. No. Here. No wait... here."

Toph slammed her palm to her forehead.

"There is an eclipse today and Aang is going to fight the Firelord, and the firebenders won't have any fire to use. So that's good for us." Sokka was probably foaming at the mouth. "And... Uhm... I'm sorry." Sokka slumped. "Let me start at the beginning."

Toph tuned out his nervous words. Hakoda stood, making his way to the stage and gripped the boy wonder by his shoulder. "Thank you." She grumbled under her breath.

"Let me just clarify a few points for everyone! Today is the day of Black Sun." Hakoda's commanding voice rung forth, catching everyone's attention. Toph mentally thanked what Spirits were listening to her. "And I want to thank all of you for your self-sacrifice and courage. There are two steps towards the invasion," Hakoda paused for a second before carrying on. "A Naval stage and then a Land stage..."

Toph tuned out the rest of the boring speech until everyone began to cheer. She stood and joined in with the hollering. _This is going to be fun..._ It was kind of like a game to her. She knew it wasn't one, but she could dream couldn't she? Toph stalked over to Chiel, who looked at her. "Are you ready?" She asked the Armadillo-wolf. The beast stood to his full size and was probably a half of her taller. He licked her cheek and then whined.

"I know. I wonder where he is too..." She replied.

* * *

Kuse sighed, leaning against the wall as he watched Prince Zuko. Well... He hadn't fainted, but he did feel extremely awkward. The Prince was going to betray his own family. It seemed strange... The thief had already donned his original clothing and some armor he had made himself under his Dai Li cloak. His mask was strapped to his waist. Luckily, the Dai Li robe was that big.

"The invasion is to begin soon. Where are we going to go?" He asked.

Zuko looked up from his writing for a moment. "To the Catacombs."

The Shadowbender blinked. "Catacombs?"

The Prince rolled up his note, placing it on his bed and pulled some stuff up into his hand. "Follow me."

Objective 4 was about to be set in motion. He took a quick peek outside the window. They were out there in the harbor, somewhere. He knew they were. Objective 4 was to wipe out the forces guarding the Inner palace. Kuseron followed behind Prince Zuko in the Dai Li manner. They proceeded into Earthen cut cave tunnels and Kuseron realized, they had been prepared for this day. _Toph, luv... Be safe._ He whispered in thought. The Prince turned to him.

"Take this passage all the way to the end. Azula and the guards will be there. I have to go a different way." He muttered.

Kuseron nodded silently flexing his hands and letting the stones slowly crumble to the ground. He could _feel_ the impending Eclipse. Soon... Soon he'd have too much darkness inside him, he'd be unable to contain it. He let his mechanisms began to test. The hidden blade worked. His home-made bombs he knew worked and everything else? Well, that was all going to be him and Murmur.

[AU Begins here]

He marched to the opening, his hand clasping around his Scythe. He stopped at the opening. Guards and Dai Li agents turned to face him. "Chung? What's that?"

The Shadowbender was quiet for a long moment before lifting a hand, ripping off the Dai Li clothes and pulling on his mask.

"I am not Chung. Nor was I a Dai Li agent..." His eyes met Azula's, who looked somewhat betrayed. "I am Kuseron Shadow! And I will take you all down!" He brandished his Scythe. Murmur came to stand beside him, unable to be seen by anyone but him.

Azula scowled. "Dai Li! Guards! Get him!"

It didn't matter anymore... He drew in a deep breath. _I can feel it. The Power._ He whispered in thought. Murmur looked at him. _The Eclipse has begun._ A Door closed behind him and he shook his head. _I will take over._ Murmur stood in front of him, looking down at him with a smirk. Kuse smirked back. _Just no Shadowbending until I say..._

He was about to charge forward, well, Murmur was going to charge forward but... The door flew over his head.

"Kuseron?" A voice he knew too well and a bark happened shortly after it.

Azula was sitting in the chair lazily. "So you are alive-"

They were going to start talking... "We're wasting time." He snarled. "Less talking, more blood!" He darted forward into the mass of Dai Li agents, he spun in a wide arc, his scythe cutting into men all around. The blood that splattered forth, well... He could almost call it pretty. But that was the darkness talking there. Kuse ducked under rocks and stone hands. He flipped over one Agent, his hidden blade activating and passing through his head and out through his jaw. He pulled it out as he landed. The man fell to the side, blood oozing to the floor from the gaping holes in his head. Kuseron ignored the blood dripping into his eyes. The Shadowbender ducked under a large chunk of rock and jumped towards another, pushing it back at the Dai Li agent that had sent it at him. Toph, Aang and Sokka were going after the firebender guards, who no longer had power to bend fire.

He was surrounded but it didn't phase him. He kept slashing and hacking. His scythe was already stained with blood... Why not more? He met eyes with the man that had been Chung's friend, Gan. He leered at the man. "Afraid are you?" He threw his head back at the man, a cold laughter escaping his lips. He probably had a certain crazed gleam in his eye. He slammed his hidden blade into the man's stomach and then drew his scythe back, swinging it around at Gan. The man let out quite a girlish scream that was cut short.

His head rolled, blood splatter against his vest and shirt, hardly able to be seen on the fabric... Blood pooled at his feet. There was so. much. blood.

Kuse could feel his breath growing erratic. The Darkness was strong... It was eating him alive.

_Control yourself..._ He breathed silently before darting forward. He was not going to go insane. He pulled out a few of the bombs off his belt and threw them forward, few Dai Li agents stood and the firebender guards had all been cut down. Kuse skidded to a stop beside Toph, who glanced at him with a frown. He paid no heed to her and drew his scythe up. "How much more time do we have?" Chiel growled as he stepped forward, the Armadillo-wolf giving a happy tail wag in his direction before looking towards the wall as it rose from the ground. They were buying themselves little time. "We have 2 minutes!" Sokka cried.

_This is it isn't it?_

_Yes... The Sacrifice is today._

_Alright then. Let's give them a show Murmur._

Kuse looked towards Sokka and the two others. "You guys get out of here while you have the chance!"

They all cried out the same line, "What? No!"

"Yes! You have to get back to the group. They knew this was coming and we don't have time to find the Firelord!"

Toph was staring at him. "What about you?"

Kuseron frowned. "I'll be okay luv." He gave them no room for argument as he darted forward. The sound of their retreating footsteps echoing in the now quieting hall. Well, except for the occasional moans from dying enemies...

Kuseron drew in a deep breath. This was when the darkness was to be utilized... The Shadowbender gripped his scythe tighter and swung it back, letting out a cry as he swung it around. The darkness rolled off the blade quicker than he had seen it move before. The wall of earth fell and he was faced with 3 Dai Li agents, Ty Lee, Mai and Azula...

_1:45_

He watched Azula flick her hand and the Dai Li agents darted forward, showing him a fierce opposition. Rocks were flying at him from all sorts of front angles. Murmur took over here, it was like some kind of targeting system. The rocks stood no chance against his scythe. He spun it around him, watching the rocks begin to disintegrate from his scythe. He charged forward at the Dai Li agents, darkness encasing his scythe. They froze in fear. It was over quickly... He stood up from his bent position, turning his head back slightly to watch the agents bodies fall in half. More blood... It was everywhere.

_1:30_

He let out a crazed laugh.

_1:25_

Ty Lee and Mai darted forward. They were like a duo. Mai threw forward her darts and he nimble dodged and deflected them.

Ty Lee leapt around him, trying to find a an opening to his body. He wasn't letting her have any advantage.

Kuseron slammed the blunt end of his side into Ty Lee, swinging her around and watching as she collided with Mai. The two looked unconscious.

_1:15_

Azula was clapping. "Well done. I must say..." She tipped her head to her left. "Who are you again?" The Princess was trying to stall. He knew he could take her on from hand-to-hand now. There was no fire to use against him.

"Screw you." He growled. His scythe disappeared into the darkness and he threw aside his hidden blade mechanism and his bombs, watching as the hidden blade was blown to smithereens. They wouldn't be able to use it. Never...

_1:00_

Kuseron darted forward, Azula side-stepped his punch and tried to kick him. He jumped over her leg and flashed forward. She was fast and cunning, just like him. He was better though. He was a thief, trained in these arts. He leapt backwards as she moved forward to slam her head against his. Resourceful too... He tackled her, slamming her into the wall and brought back his fists together, like a hammer, and he swung. She slipped to the side right before she was hit. Azula almost was able to punch him, luckily he had pushed back. She followed after him, they were throwing fists and kicks back and forth between each other. Neither was able to touch one another...

It was time to use the darkness.

Kuseron drew into the snake stance. "Puppet Shadow!" He hissed.

He watched with distinct pleasure as Azula's eyes widened in momentary fear and surprise. He swung his let arm forward. The Puppet extending a very sharp-tipped hand, she was barely able to flip out of the way. "Hold still!" He snarled. His puppet darted forward and slammed it's hands into the ground but caught nothing. Azula popped in front of him and he ducked out of the way, at the same time, slamming his palms into her stomach. Azula lurched backwards and groaned at the blow. He had used extra force... Darkness encased his hands, solidified to something akin to stone.

Azula narrowed her gaze calculating.

He darted forward again, she did the same.

_:30_

He went into a slide, doing his old trick. The one he had used on the Thug back in Ba Sing Se.

No.

This one was modified.

They had both grazed one another.

One more than the other...

Azula let out a croaking sound.

Kuseron turned around to face her. The next second, her armor bursted slightly and cracked open, revealing a large wound diagonally across her chest. The Fire Princess scowled.

_:00_

Azula smirked. "Time's up for you." She stood full height, despite the visible wince. Kuseron felt Murmur leaving him. He felt the darkness's influence ebbing away slowly.

"I know..." He replied.

Azula began to make the air crackle, preparing to shoot lightening at him.

Kuseron darted forward at her, darkness shrouding him.

She sent the Lightening at him. He kept running...

_I'm going to die..._

The pain it felt terrible. Adrenaline coursed through him and the pain. It hurt so badly. He kept going though. He was inches away from her but he was done... Azula still looked surprised. She hadn't expected him to be able to survive that. He slowly fell to his knees and groaned. He felt it sizzling off him, his innards turning to mush. Kuse's vision blurred. The Princess was smirking and she gripped his chin in her icy claw-like fingers. "You lose." She gripped onto one of his arms and sent another one through him. He finally screamed in agony... For the first time in his life.

_No..._

_I can't..._

_I won't..._

_Toph..._

_I..._

_I won't..._

_I won't make it..._

_No..._

NO! It wasn't a scream of agony. No... It was power. Azula was sent flying backwards from the darkness that bursted from him. He stood slowly, aching. Everything was aching. But he was going to make it. _This Shadowbender won't go done without a fight._ He thought bitterly and lifted his head, glaring at the again, standing Azula. One last time. She was summoning Lightening.

He looked at his arm and then watched as it's skin disappeared and his bones began to rearrange. They formed a shield. _Bonebending through darkness...?_ Yes, he could see the darkness, the little wisps here and there, they quickly worked, making his arm an impenetrable shield.

Kuse snapped back into reality.

_One last time._

He pulled his arm around and let the lightening connect with it. He felt nothing.

Nothing.

Then, darkness took him...

* * *

**Cliffhanger~!**


	14. Dead Heart

**A/N: This chapter could get a bit intense for those-who-are-young. There will be torture in this Chapter and among other things, so I think I'll be upping the rating, depending on what I decide.**

**So you have been warned,**

**Torture will be present in this chapter, among some other stuff.**

**Enjoy?**

**JtJ**

* * *

It had been 4 days already. They thought they could break him? He could laugh at them, if he wasn't currently gagged. He was in prison at the Boiling Rock. Strange name it was, but he could understand why they called it the boiling rock. It was right over a volcano. _Idiots..._ He grumbled in thought and glared angrily across at the guards in front of him. There was always light in his cell since they found out he could Shadowbend. Nobody did anything. A low hum rang through the cell, _she_ was circling her prey. _Hah! We're both predators..._ He sniffed as the two guards were silently motioned forward. They had him stripped down to the prison's underwear. A hardly protective piece of fabric.

"Guards," His captor smirked. "Burn him."

They obeyed her. Nobody would ever disobey the Firelord's daughter. Azula bent down in front of him, pulling out the gag, a dirty fabric, probably once belonging to a prisoner. He met her cold, meticulous gaze and only let out a low rumble from his chest. The guards unhooked the chains, pulling on them to bring his arms above his head. He felt disgraced. They hung him from his wrists for times on end as they tried to make him curl in agony. To make him scream. He gave them no satisfaction. "Are you going to talk?" Azula asked softly.

He snarled, spitting in her face.

The girl drew back and scowled. "Do it now." She commanded.

The guards drew into position. Kuseron bit his lower lip as one guard used a fire whip, the fire burned him and the whip cut through his back. He felt himself lurch a bit at the contact. The cool feeling of blood sliding once again down his back and over the burns, it was almost soothing. Azula flicked her hand. This time the guard from the front reacted, throwing a blast of fire forward. Kuse ignored the pain in his wrists, and on his legs as the fire seemed to claw at them. The guard at his back used the whip again, it cut through his back again. He felt the burns spreading. Azula had a ball of her blue flames as well and placed a flaming palm on his shoulder. He only let his gaze shift to her and scowled at her.

Azula narrowed her eyes and pulled her palm away. She seemed discouraged. Another whip to the back and a blast of fire at his legs. "Where did the Avatar go?" She demanded, pulling back a hand, ready to strike him.

Kuseron only narrowed his eyes.

That didn't please her at all. Azula let her fist strike him and he only blinked. The Princess only seemed ready to throw more fireballs at him but leaned in to whisper in his ear, "You will talk sooner or later." She stood back and looked at the guards. "Leave us." The guards looked at one another before quickly stalking out of the cell. They were probably gleeful that they got to beat on a prisoner. Kuse's blood red eyes followed Azula's every move. She undid the hooks that held him suspended and he dropped to the ground. He remained vigilant. Azula bent down and pulled him up onto his feet.

She narrowed her eyes before making a move he had not suspected.

This evil monstrosity _kissed_ him.

Kuseron flinched slightly. It was his only response to her. Azula pulled away, slowly, as if teasing him. _What the hell is she doing? _She let him drop back to the ground and sneered at him. "Consider yourself lucky, for now..." The Firelord's daughter exited the cell with that horrible sneer on her face.

The Shadowbender crawled over to a corner and promptly wretched. Blood, mixed in with acid and other things fell to the floor. He hadn't had a shower since the first day, when the guards had forcefully washed him. Kuse crawled away from the mess, and curled up in another corner. _Toph..._ He looked at the cell door, ignoring the burns and the blood that began to puddle on the ground near him.

When was he going to die in this place?

* * *

"I miss Pipsqueak..." The Duke murmured.

Toph lifted her head. "I miss Kuseron."

Katara came up beside her, wrapping her arms around her in a small hug. "I miss him too." Chiel trotted up beside them and whined. Toph gripped into the Armadillo-wolf's fur.

It felt so wrong to not have Kuse by her side. Was he okay? Was he still alive? She didn't know.

She really didn't know.

_Kuse..._

She stopped. There was a town beneath them... The Western Air Temple! "Hey! We're here!" A mild pleasure to her right now.

* * *

She was back already. He wasn't phased by it. Azula flicked her hand. They rung him back up and he was once again, left to hang in the silence. They kept trying to make him talk. It got them nowhere... He ignored the cracking sound from his wrists. They were already starving him. They couldn't keep doing it of course. He'd be to weak to talk after he was through. Azula was eyeing him carefully. She was planning whatever was to come next. The Guards shifted silently, doing what they were supposed to do before they pulled out something he really couldn't see clearly. He was still hurting from the burns from earlier.

One guard went behind the other held something over his head...

Having his head pulled back and his hair nearly being pulled out of his head was enough to break other men. Not him... He watched as Azula pulled out a knife. He only let out a growl.

"Are you going to speak yet?" Azula asked.

The Shadowbender scowled. The Fire Princess pressed the knife flatly against one of his burns. He only shivered. It was a familiar but yet distant feeling. The monstrosity of a girl then drove the blade into his burn. Kuseron let his leg twitch, letting some pain disappear. Blood once again welled up, spilling from the wound as Azula ran a hand over his back. He suppressed the feeling to shiver. Azula was planning on doing something. He didn't like it. She circled him for a second before stopping in front of him. "What words would you liked carved into your back? How about..." She trailed off. "Abomination? Bastard?"

He said nothing.

Azula rolled her eyes and went back to his back. Kuse felt her sweeping her fingers over his back. Looking for a spot... Then it began.

_A..._

"Tell me where the Avatar is!"

_B..._

Kuseron said nothing.

_O..._

Azula kept cutting into him. The knife sent pain arcing everywhere, but he did nothing to show it. He wasn't going to break.

_M..._

"Where did they go?"

_I..._

"Tell me!"

_N..._

Blood was pooling at his get again. He was losing more blood by the day... When was it going to end?

_A..._

The Guards began to pull at his arms, trying to tear them out of their sockets.

_T..._

He bit his tongue, hiding the growl of pain behind his steely red eyes.

_I..._

Azula dug the blade into him further as she wrote with the knife on his back.

_O..._

Kuseron heard a large snap. His left arm fell limply to his side.

_N..._

It was over. Azula dropped the blade and the guards unhooked him. He fell to the floor, crumpled up and aching. The Guards went to kicking him, but Azula commanded them to leave.

"I'll be gone for a while. Consider yourself this time to heal..." She smirked at him, pulling him up slightly on his knees.

Kuseron glared up at her.

The Firelord's monster again kissed him. He did not respond, only mentally cursing at it. Her tongue ran against his lips and it made him sick. There was no way he was going to ever like this _abomination._ Apparently, she liked him. Or was doing this to torture him. Kuseron almost flinched when she parted from him, biting his lower lip as she went. Azula dropped him and he only laid there, glaring at the door even after she had left.

He once again wretched after he realized she wasn't coming back in.

Kuse curled into the fetal position.

There would be no sleep...

* * *

**Short, because I have nothing really to go on, but I hope you guys like that I updated twice today!**


	15. The Boiling Rock

**A/N: This Chapter is mostly going to be through Sokka's eyes. The Boiling Rock part 1 and 2 together.**

**There is still a warning for Torture.**

**JtJ**

* * *

_Huh?_ He was surrounded by other prisoners. _What's this?_ He looked down. He was dressed. Not in his own clothing but he was dressed, at the least. Prison garments, red and held together roughly by horrible black stitching... Who said prison would be easy? He couldn't be here though, not out in the courtyard. They had him locked up, _all_ the time. Something burned. He felt it against his back, he felt something fall to the floor. The Scars... He looked to his side as someone spoke, it was garbled and broken up. He couldn't hear clearly.

_Zuko?_ And was that Sokka? Kuseron watched a girl dart forward. An unfamiliar face but she was... significant. He felt like this wasn't a normal dream. He recognized Hakoda, Sokka and Zuko but who was the tall man. He was a firebender... Chit Sang? The world flashed around him. He was on the thing that led out of the Boiling Rock.

He couldn't quite make anything out.

_She_ was there. He was fighting her, the dream was fading though. He couldn't quite focus anymore...

Kuseron flew up from the makeshift bed and drew in a deep breath. Still in prison. True to her word, Azula hadn't been back for nearly a week... The Shadowbender used his palms to rub his eyes, scowling. _Sokka? Zuko? Are they coming here?_ Kuse ran his fingers over the faded burns, not even wincing this time. They had slowly disappeared. The Only remnants of the burns was the fading outlines. On the other hand, there were scars...

_Abomination..._

He scowled, turning over in the bed, leaving his back exposed to the opening in the door. He didn't care anymore. The Guards were laughing. Of course they were laughing... He couldn't wait to escape.

Then, he'd show them.

* * *

Sokka was thinking. He had been thinking for a long time. He wanted to go looking for Suki and Dad, but also Kuseron... Everyone was family to him now, even Zuko but Toph. The Blind Earthbender was literally heartbroken. She would only speak when she felt she needed too and was often away from the group. Katara had been trying to help her along but the Earthbender had only been pushing everyone away. Sokka watched Zuko as he began to pour tea. "No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully I learned a thing or two." The Angry Jerk muttered. "Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?"

Aang was curled up slightly. "Sure, I like jokes." The Airbender mused as he looked at his firebender teacher.

"Bring it." Toph muttered, she looked like she was hiding behind a mask.

Zuko began to walk around. "Ok, well I can't remember how it starts but the punch line is," Haru and The Duke took their tea cups. "_Leaf_ me alone, I'm _bushed._" Nobody laughed. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it..."

Sokka mentally sighed.

Katara took her cup and spoke, "Right. Maybe it's because he actually remembers the whole thing." Aang chuckled.

"It's nice to get time to relax a little. We hardly get any." Toph muttered. She was using a fake smile. Sokka could tell. Only Katara and him really knew that she was faking things.

Sokka looked up at Zuko as he made his way over to give him his tea. "Hey, can I talk to you?" He stood and walked away from the group, giving a passing glance to Toph as she frowned behind her tea. She looked like she was ready to go hide in her room. Zuko followed after him slowly. "So what's up?" Appa watched them pass. The Warrior stopped, frowning slowly. "If someone was captured by the Fire nation, where would they be taken?"

Zuko looked somewhat surprised as his question. "What do you mean? Who was captured?"

Sokka crossed his arms, trying to think straight. _Suki. Dad... Kuseron._ That was if he was alive. "When the invasion plan failed, a friend of ours was captured, you don't know him, his name was Kuseron and Well, I was wondering where he might have be taken."

"Kuseron?" Zuko muttered.

"Yeah. That's our guy... Toph was quite attached to him." He replied. Toph in question was gone again and Katara was slowly standing to go find her.

"I know him. He... He went to fight Azula. It was foolish, he might not even be alive." Zuko was looking thoughtful.

"How do you know him?" Sokka was almost tempted to grab him by the shoulders and shake the answer out of the Angry Jerk.

Zuko frowned. "He was a regular at our tea shop when we had been hiding in Ba Sing Se."

Sokka sighed, "Oh... That's probably why he already knew your Uncle." He shook his head. "But that's beside the point. _If_he is alive, where would he be taken?"

"I can't tell you." Zuko looked down at his feet. He obviously knew but why wasn't he telling him? "Why not?" He questioned immediately.

"Trust me, knowing would only make you feel worse." Zuko turned and began to walk away. Sokka couldn't stand it. He wanted to find Suki, help Toph and get Dad back to him and Katara. Selfish but he couldn't help it.

He grabbed Zuko's shoulder and sighed. "It's also my dad. He was captured too." He removed his hand and slumped slightly. It felt wrong. "I need to know what I put him through."

"It's not good Sokka." Zuko looked back at him.

"_Please._" He responded.

"My guess is, that they were taken to the Boiling Rock." Zuko shifted.

Sokka was confused. It sounded like a prison, or just some volcano... "What's that?"

"It's the highest level security prison in the Fire Nation. It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake." Sokka turned away and crossed his arms angrily. "It's inescapable."

"So Where is this place?"

"Why do you want to know? What are you planning?"

"Nothing," He shrugged the question away and turned, flicking a hand. "Boy. You are so paranoid."

"It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. You guys actually flew right past it on the way here." Sokka suddenly felt sick. They had passed right by it. Kuseron could be there, Suki could be there, even Dad and they had passed by it without so much of a glance. Katara had pointed it out, but they didn't give much more thought to it afterwards. He gave a small smile. "Thanks Zuko." He fake yawned, stretching. "Just knowing makes me feel much better."

That was a lie.

* * *

Sokka quietly walked through the group of his friends, stopping by Toph for a second. Once he had a little small crush on her... Once. It had made him a bit more protective over her, but She had Kuseron. Right now. She didn't. He hoped that the Shadowbender was alive. Her feet were pulled up, still burned from that night when she had gone after Zuko for them. He almost stepped on Momo, but luckily stepped over the lemur. He shushed Appa, who had looked at him expectantly. He climbed up, coming to make his way up onto Appa's saddle. "Not up to anything huh?" He let go of the side of the saddle, falling back and hitting the ground hard. Sokka let out a small groan. Zuko, sneaky bastard... "Fine. You caught me. I'm going to rescue my dad and Shadows." He began to pick up the stuff that fell out of his pack. "You happy now?"

Zuko only glared at him. "I'm never happy."

_Nice to know_. Sokka thought bitterly. "Look I have to do this. The invasion plan was _my_ idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong." He stood back up. "It's my mistake and it's my job to fix it." Zuko jumped down, landing in front of him. "I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me Zuko."

"How are you going to get there? On Appa?"

~o~O~o~

That pretty much how he ended up on a hot air balloon, that he had helped designed and was with Zuko. The firebender would occasionally put fire into the furnace and they will lift up slightly in the air and floated forward. It was awkward. They were hardly talking about anything. At first they had spoken about Kuseron, Zuko had been wondering whether or not he was an Earthbender. Sokka had told him that Kuseron was a Shadowbender. The firebender had been mostly confused. He had thought the same too... Until he had seen it with his own eyes.

"Pretty clouds..." He mused.

"Yeah. Fluffy." Zuko said, the awkwardness evident in his voice.

Sokka began to whistle, just to pass time.

Zuko turned to him. "What?"

Sokka's eyes widened. He didn't quite understand. "What? Oh...!" He shrugged. "I didn't say anything." He silently thought up something to talk about. "Ya know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."

"No kidding." Zuko muttered.

"Yep." He looked away from Zuko. "A balloon, made for war..."

Zuko blasted more fire into the furnace. "Yeah. War... If there is one thing my dad's good at. It's war."

Sokka rubbed his neck. "Yeah. It seems to run in the family."

Zuko looked extremely offended. "Hey! Not everyone in my family-"

Sokka cut him off. "Yeah, yeah. I know, you've changed."

"I wasn't talking about me. I was talking about my Uncle." Sokka frowned. "He was like a real father to me and I let him down."

"I think your Uncle would be proud of you." He replied. "Leaving your home to come help us. That's hard..."

Zuko shook his head. "It wasn't that hard."

"Didn't you leave behind someone?" Sokka questioned.

"Well, I did have a girlfriend..." Zuko looked at him. "Her name is Mai."

Sokka chuckled under his breath. Her? The really bored looking girl who was always sighing and looked out of place until you got her to fight? "That gloomy girl that sighs a lot?"

"Yeah..." The Angry Jerk smiled. It changed quickly though. "Everyone in the fire nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon." He replied.

"That's rough buddy..." There was a hint of a chuckle under his breath. Sokka shot him a glance.

* * *

Peaceful sleep... Very peaceful sleep.

Then...

"There it is!" Sokka was up and ran over to the edge to look at what Zuko was talking about. Yeah. He remembered that... "There's enough steam to keep us covered as long as we're quiet we should be able to navigate through it."

They began to descend through steam and Sokka soon realized that this War balloon was going down. It wasn't built to go through very hot places. He ran by Zuko, trying to help. "We're going down." Zuko tried blasting into the furnace repeatedly.

"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, making it to where we can't fly!"

Zuko hit back against one of the sides, groaning. "What are we supposed to do?"

Sokka shrugged. "I dunno, crash landing...?"

_Exactly._

* * *

Kuseron felt strange... Something was heading towards this Prison. It was something different. Not the regular transport of prisoners. This was different. The red-eyed _abomination_ shuffled over to the window, looking out. Someone was here, he could feel it. New Moon... It was another restart. He turned around, thinking to himself for a second before scowling. He drew into his Snake stance and thrusted his backhands forward. The lights died in the darkness. The Shadowbender took in a deep breath, swiveling his left hand around a bit before bringing it back and thrusting upwards. He would have to practice. It was drawing near...

He did exactly that until near morning, when he immediately laid down and pretended like he was sleeping.

* * *

They had been there for almost all morning and they hadn't found his Dad, or Suki. They were looking for Kuseron now... Zuko had taken the lead and they quickly walked towards the Solitary confinement part of the Prison. "This way." Zuko mumbled. Sokka was worried. What if the Shadowbender was really dead? What would he tell Toph. "Hey! You two!" A female guard called out. Both him and Zuko froze. "Are you two here to take our shift?" Zuko stepped forward. He seemed to know exactly way to do. "Yes, we are here for the next shift. Which prisoner are we watching today?"

The Female guard scoffed. "He's an abomination. He's always quiet, so you shouldn't have trouble with him. Princess Azula got to him." She elbowed the other guard. "Made him break like a twig."

Zuko had tensed up at Azula's name. Sokka stepped forward. "Who is he?"

The Female guard shrugged. "The Princess's plaything, that's what he is..."

"His name's Kuron or Kuseron or something like that." The Other guard grumbled and pushed past them. The Female guard left them as well. Sokka quickly got to the door, peering in. Zuko stood beside him. He could only see part of his back, with words cut into his back, spelling...

_Abomination._

Sokka frowned. "Kuseron? Kuseron?"

The blood red eyes came into view in under five seconds. He and Zuko leapt back from the hole. "Don't bother me!" Shadows snarled.

Sokka went back to the opening. "Kuse, it's me! Sokka!" He cried.

The Shadowbender stopped. "What did we argue about on the night before the invasion?"

Sokka rolled his eyes, sighing. "Whether or not you should go sneak in to the Firelord's Palace."

Kuseron turned back around. "Who's the other guy?"

Zuko lifted his mask a bit. The Shadowbender huffed. "My heroes."

* * *

Everything was going according to plan... Now they just needed to get Kuseron out. Well, more like he did. Zuko had been caught when they had found Suki. Now it was up to him to get the Shadowbender out. Sokka quickly moved towards Solitary Confinement. There were no guards here. They were on the second level and couldn't see him. "Kuseron!" He called into the cell quietly. The Shadowbender lifted up from his little bed and made his way over to the door. "What it is Sokka? Are we ready to go?" He murmured in response.

"Yeah. I'm going to get you out of here and we'll be going." He replied, grabbing the handle and open the several latches. He pulled as hard as he could and opened the heavy metal door. Kuseron was leaning against the wall. He looked severely emaciated. Sokka grabbed his arm and pulled him along, they didn't get five steps before Kuse collapsed. Sokka grabbed him and pulled him up. "What's wrong?"

"Too much blood loss, severe lack of food..." He grumbled.

Sokka pulled him up onto his feet and pulled his arm around his neck. "C'mon Kuseron. We have to get you out of here."

Kuseron muttered something bitterly and Sokka kept walking, quietly making sure that no guard was going to come and find them. Sokka was able to get him outside and down to where the cooler was. Kuse was left to sit against a rock as He, Zuko, Suki and Chit Sang rolled the Cooler down to the water slowly. Afterwords, Suki met Kuseron. Sokka was still let down that his dad wasn't here.

"Sokka, is this another one of your friends?" She asked.

Kuseron looked up at Suki with a small gleam of anger in his eyes, but he seemed to weak to express it. "My name's Kuseron. You are?"

Suki smiled at him. "Suki." She replied, holding out her hand and pulling the Shadowbender onto his feet, Kuse nodded gratefully and Sokka took his other side, they made their way down to the cooler before they stopped. Sokka went to the rock he had hidden his clothes under and looked down at them. "Are you sure you wanna go?" Zuko asked him. "You're the one who wanted to redeem yourself. Rescuing your dad is your chance..."

Sokka picked up his sword and put it on. Suki walked up slowly. "Your dad?"

Kuseron butted in, having hobbled his way over somehow. "Hakoda? Your dad, he was in my dream, my vision, I should say..." The Shadowbender grunted.

Sokka stared at the Shadowbender. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't think we escape tonight..." Kuse rumbled back.

"Hey, are you done cuddling? Can we get a move on?" Chit Sang broke into their conversation, looking impatient.

Sokka looked back at Kuseron before Suki and Zuko... Was Kuseron right. He said he had a vision. Did Kuseron know something they didn't? "No." He replied hesitantly. "I'm staying." He dropped his bag, looking at Zuko and Suki. "You guys go."

Suki protested, "I'm not leaving without you Sokka." Zuko stood beside him and smirked. "I'm staying too."

They looked at Kuseron, the red-eyed boy hobbled over and Zuko gave him support. "I'm going with my vision." He replied.

Chit Sang and the others left, only to be caught soon after...

* * *

Kuseron was back in his cell...

Only for a while though, Sokka and them were going to find Hakoda. Then they'd be leaving this hellhole. He lifted his head when the slit in the door slowly opened. He expected Sokka but was immediately wrong. "Azula." He spoke calmly, pushing up to only come and stare back at her at through the slit. She smirked at him. "How's my favorite prisoner?"

"About ready to snap your neck..." He pulled out the knife she had mistakingly left in his cell and held it out to her. "You might want this, just in case something happens." He purred in a dark, deep baritone.

Azula took it from him and glared at him. "What do you mean?"

The Shadowbender chuckled. "Why should I tell you? 5 days of torture got you nowhere, why do you think I'll tell you now?"

Azula slid the door open, Ty lee was with her. Almost surprising.

He sighed as he leaned against the back wall, Azula marched over to him and glared at him. She was standing only a few inches away from him. Did she think she could intimidate him? Or was she planning on kissing him again? _Revolting._ He grumbled in thought. "You know Kuseron, there is a certain charm about you..." Azula whispered in his ear, almost sounding deadly. Ty Lee had exited the room. Kuse decided to play along. "Mm? And what's that?" He lifted a hand, brushing calloused fingertips against her cheek. The Monster in front of him almost seemed to curl into his hand. He flicked his other hand, the door closed and the lights flickered out. Azula backed up, glaring at him. "What did you just do?" She hissed.

"Don't you know? Everything began in darkness Azula, it will end in darkness." He replied briskly and sneered at her.

She was judging him. Probably considering whether he was a threat or not... She took a cautious step forward before she returned to being only inches away from him. "Why are you this way? You never showed any pain, any signs of breaking during the torture... How are you not broken?"

Kuse let his lips twitch upwards, hooking his arms around her waist to pull her forward. "I'm just that way." He whispered in her ear, before quickly clasping handcuffs on her. He had taken them from Sokka when he hadn't been paying attention.

"Azula? Are you alright?" Ty lee called through the opening. Luckily she didn't look through...

Kuseron grinned like a cat-owl. "Have fun." He whispered, brushing his lips against hers, just to get her in a nice little hissy fit.

Utilizing the darkness, he made the door fly off it's hinges and sent Ty Lee flying, who had been trying to peer into the hole. No guards were around. He felt obligated to leave... He looked back at Azula before cracking his wrists. "Hang here for a little." The chains that had held him suspended in the air now latched onto the cuffs on Azula's hands and he grinned as he suspended her before he strutted out the door, feeling very accomplished.

_I'm going to keep this memory a treasure forever._ He grinned to himself, slipping into a closet that held the guard outfits.

* * *

They were in the courtyard now. Sokka felt wonderful...

He was ready to go but they were missing Kuseron still. Chit Sang was going to start the riot as soon as The Shadowbender got to this point. "Sokka! There's a guard coming our way!" Suki cried, already in her fighting stance.

Sokka turned, his blade out and he was prepared for a fight but the Guard took off his helmet.

It was Kuseron...

"Sorry I'm late. I had some business to deal with." The Shadowbender was grinning ear to ear.

Sokka was a bit creeped out but shrugged. "Alright. Chit Sang, start the riot." He commanded.

The burly man grabbed a smaller, older looking guy and promptly lifted him over his head. "Hey!" He lifted the man up a couple of times. "RIOT!"

"Impressive..." Hakoda muttered.

He looked at Suki, who also looked at them. She looked equally confused. Kuseron huffed and looked at Sokka. "Our next step?"

Zuko came running out from nowhere and he threw a guard off his back, scowling. "We need to capture the warden, then we need to get to the gondolas." Sokka proclaimed.

The Firebender looked at him. "And how are we going to do that?"

Sokka shrugged. "No clue."

Kuseron growled and pushed between them. "Excuse me."

Sokka turned his attention to the Shadowbender, Suki followed suit probably seeing whatever logic he saw. Kuseron took off, running into the crowd before he flew off the ground with his Shadowy powers. Suki was jumping from head to head of prisoners. The Shadowbender then began to scale the wall, like some kind of lizard. Suki grabbed onto pipes and swung her way up. They both fought side to side, like they had done so before. They even did the same move...

* * *

Kuseron flipped up onto the balcony, the girl, Suki landed beside him. They took each step in stride and ended up using the move he always used to get advantage on people, they both flipped the man over their heads by sliding under him. Suki looked at him and they both chimed together. "Hey! That's my-" They stared at one another before they laughed a little. Another guard sent a fireball their way, Suki was prepared to leap out of the way. Kuseron swiveled his left hand in a small circle before thrusting his backhands forward. The fireball dissipated against his wall of darkness.

"I'll go one side. You go the other." Suki muttered to him quickly.

Kuseron nodded and blasted himself up onto the next balcony, landing on one side of the warden while Suki landed on his right. She took out the guard quicker than lightening but he had already subdued the Warden in a swift thrust to his neck. Suki came up from behind and tied him up. Suki grinned. "Sorry Warden, looks like your our prisoner now."

Suki slammed the warden into the wall, as the other ran up. "We've got the warden, now let's go!"

"That's some girl." Hakoda mused.

Sokka smiled dreamily. "Yeah."

Hakoda walked over to him, looking down at him. "And you quite the fighter yourself, Kuseron isn't it?"

He nodded, a bit breathless from it all but They turned and took off. As they ran towards the Gondolas, four firebenders tried to stop them but with Zuko's quick reaction, "Back off we've got the Warden!" They passed by without any problems. Kuseron took up the rear, walking backwards to make sure no one tried to make a move. Suki opened the Gondola door and ushered them in. Zuko started the gondola and broke off the handle, with the firebenders in pursuit. They were all good, until... Hakoda spoke. "Wait. Who's that?"

Kuseron took to a side and scowled. "I told her to hang there..." He gritted his teeth.

Zuko came to stand beside him. "It's my sister and her friend."

Suki growled. "This is a rematch I've been waiting for..."

Kuseron slowly turned his scowl into a sneer. "I'll give her five points for determination. You're sister's something else Zuko..."

The Former Fire prince looked at him before going to a window, "Me too." He hoped out, pulling himself up onto the top of the gondola. The Shadowbender followed suit, coming to stand beside Zuko.

Azula and Ty Lee landed. With a few passing moments, nothing happened... Then, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Sokka was staring across at Kuseron. He had been for some while... He just couldn't help it.

The Shadowbender had kissed Azula! It made him shiver to even think about it.

Although, it had help them get an advantage.

Kuseron then told them about the week he had been tortured, summing it up all into one sentence. "Stuff happened and Azula grew fond of me."

Sokka shook his head.

"It's Revolting..."

Kuseron smirked. "Exactly. That's why I washed my mouth out and hope to the Spirits that none of you tell Toph, and if you do..." He stroked his chin. "I'm going to kill you before she can kill me."

* * *

"What are you doing in this thing?" Katara cried.

Toph could really care less about this... So they went on some excursion, give them a break Sugar Queen...

"What happened to the war balloon?" Sugar Queen went back to moaning.

"It kind of got destroyed." Zuko replied.

"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip." Twinkletoes mused.

Toph mentally sighed, half listening... So she asked. "Did you at least get some good meat?"

Sokka was probably grinning, because he was quivering with excitement. "I did. The best meat of all, the meat of friendship and fatherhood."

People filed out of the war ship. Someone spoke. "I'm new, what's up everybody?"

Toph wasn't paying attention to everyone else...

One last person filed out of the War ship and came slowly over to her. "Hello..." He paused. "Luv."

It was him...

* * *

**Yay. Chapter 15! Time for a little Champagne and Wine!**


	16. Haunted Dreams

**ElizaBethJacksonPotter: Yes. Reunion... Made me happy too when I wrote it too. The Ember Island Players, I haven't thought about how I'd put him in... When I think about it, I think the Ember island players are just going to make him disappear at the Invasion part, or "die". Either way it would work. -secretive whisper- Kuseron's going to have a fit.**

**nightX-18: Well... Thank you? Glad you really like me? -insert Cereal guy squint here- Wait... -le gasp- How far am I up on your scale of awesomeness? Anyways. I hope you keep loving my stories. I'm sorry you can't fathom the end of this story, because it will eventually end(Don't worry Sequels!). And thanks, Kuseron takes that comment to heart except... He doesn't know what say about you being Toph though. He's sitting beside me and muttering... o.o I better do whatever he wants, or it's my head. And I plan to update as much as I can. I don't have a specific time, I just update as much as I can.****  
**

**12aae87: Azula can love can't she? xD Besides Kuseron was just doing it so he and the others could escape. (Kuse: I regret nothing...) And lol, yes, that would be a very cool twist. I'll consider it.**

**To my Editor: No. Sorry, I was afraid that I'd have to move to dA, but luckily I am all good. **

**Always open to ideas guys! And please, please, please give me time to update. School's back in session.**

**So,**

**Enjoy! It's a Filler!**

**JtJ -insert omg-run- ... Excuse me while I run and Omg.**

* * *

Kuseron smiled down at Toph. She was still the same... The Blind Earthbender reached out to him, hugging him. She didn't speak for the long moment until he clearly saw the tears in her eyes. "I-I thought you were dead." She whispered. He didn't know what to say exactly. He _had_ expected to die, if not at the invasion, in the prison... Yet he was here. Alive and with her again. Kuse silently stroked her cheek. "I didn't think I'd make it either..." He replied. The Shadowbender felt awful. He began to lead Toph away but he was stopped by Katara. "Kuseron? What happened to your back?" The Shadowbender frowned. He maybe shouldn't have changed into his old clothing, they were in tatters.

He gave a small scowl to the Sugar Queen, about to reply something very sour but Zuko stepped in. "Azula got to him."

Katara grabbed his arm. "Let me look at those."

Obviously, they hadn't seen the _other_ scar. It seemed that Sokka was the only one who knew, because he had asked him about it. Kuseron drew his arm away, glaring at Katara with every ounce of hatred he had. Most of that hatred was against Azula. The Waterbender drew back, frowning. "Don't touch me." He grumbled. The Shadowbender didn't want them to know. He had sworn Sokka to secrecy. He didn't want anyone else to know. "Toph." Katara spoke. Just her name. Toph then had him pinned to the ground in earthen shackles. _Crap__._ He thought crossly.

He would be throwing a fit, but Katara had already prepared herself to heal the still half-open scars and moved the tattered shirt, to only let out a surprised gasp.

_Abomination._

Everything was silent. Kuseron leaned his head down against the cool stone ground, "Let me go. Please." He muttered. The earth released him but not until after Katara had healed his wounds-turn-scars. He walked away with what dignity he could manage until he entered one of the temple rooms, were he crumpled into the ground and leaned his head into his hands. He hadn't cried in a long time... So many things he had been holding back, now just seemed to accumulate with the words on his back. Kuse sniffed, he knew that there would be sacrifices. For a long time he knew that concept, but he had never expected it to happen to him. Although, there he was. He had fought Azula, survived three lightening bolts and her inane torture.

A once perfect temple, was now beaten, bruised and scarred.

He felt abnormal.

He felt like...

Kuseron didn't know what he felt like.

No.

He knew...

He felt like an _Abomination._

Azula had her reasons for putting abomination on his back, but that wasn't his reason. No. Shadowbending he excepted it. He loved the ability he had, but he just felt too out of place now.

"Kuse?" A soft voice, an Angel's voice... Toph stepped into the room, looking at him sightlessly but her face held it all.

_Worry._

Had he made her worry for him. What had he put her through when he had sacrificed himself to get them out of a trap? "What?" He asked, a bit snippy as he spoke but only because he was angry, at himself. The blind girl came and sat down beside him. Kuseron expected her to ask what had happened to him, or try to comfort him. He didn't want comfort. He didn't know what he wanted. Toph looked at him, her frown had grown. "Can I?" She asked. The simplest of questions. Kuseron almost said no, but only bowed his head. "Go on."

The Earthbender ran her fingers over his back, lightly and tentatively, like that of a mother's touch for a newborn. She showed nothing until her fingers ran over the word carved into his back... She flinched, looking at him before drawing her hand away and hugging him. "I'm Sorry." She whispered.

Kuseron only half hugged her back, leaning his head into her shoulder and let out a pain-filled sob. And she let him. She let him cry into her shoulder until it was over.

"Kuse?" She mumbled.

He didn't move his head, he had a headache. Crying had always made his head hurt when he had been younger, so he had stopped crying. It had been a horrible mistake, because everything had come up and it had only made him hurt worse. "Yes?" He asked.

"It's okay to have scars..." Toph murmured.

The Shadowbender didn't say anything but silently accepted it. Scars could be a good thing...

Even if he hated them.

* * *

Another morning, just another day on the run... Azula was like a Shirshu! How in hell did she keep finding them? Luckily, they had escaped. So Kuseron felt alright... Azula had this stare. He hated it too. She looked betrayed. What? He was human! He could feel bad couldn't he? They were all curled up around a fire and He felt better now that he was back with the GAang. He had missed each one of them, except Suki, he didn't know her that well yet... It was odd. She was a fighter, a really good one at that. Kuseron glanced across the fire at said person. She was sitting by Sokka. Toph was curled into his side and Chiel was behind them. He felt better.

He hadn't even given a second thought about his scars all day.

"Camping. Man, this brings back memories." Aang mused.

Zuko smirked. "If you want I could chase you around a few times to make it _actually_ feel like old times."

Kuseron chuckled. He hadn't been apart of the group when Zuko had been after them, but he understood the sentence. Toph giggled into his shoulder. The only person not laughing, was Katara. She was usually up for a good joke or two, but she seemed out of it. "Hah. Hah. Hah..."

Sokka picked up his water. Kuseron pulled out a bottle of liquor, grinning to himself. "To Zuko, who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, that today he would be our hero."

Everyone lifted their drinks, except their glasses, except Katara. Kuse had been keeping an eye on her. She was suddenly looking very sullen and angry. "Hear, Hear!" Toph lightly bopped Zuko on his arm before she turned to him. The Shadowbender hummed to himself until Toph's gaze grew curious.

"What are you drinking?" She whispered to him.

"None ya." He mumbled back.

"What is it?"

"Something not suited for your age..." He mused, grinning.

They turned back to the conversation only when Katara walked off. "What's wrong with her?"

Kuseron watched Zuko stand up, "I wish I knew..."

Sokka still looked confused. "What's with him?"

Kuseron looked across at Suki, "Suki, where are you from?" He asked.

Suki shifted to look at him, coming to a traditional sitting position for a Warrior. "I was raised on Kyoshi. Although, I wasn't actually born there. My parents were nomads and left me in the woods near my town..." She replied.

It was something similar to his story. "Huh. I didn't know my parents either. Do you know their names?"

Suki shifted uncomfortably, he raised a hand and took a sip of his liquor. "You don't have to say Suki, you can get back to me about that..." Kuseron stood and went to his and Toph's tent, the Blind girl followed. Kuse sat down with a small sigh. Toph curled up on her bed. Well, it was their bed. They had grown accustomed to sleeping in one anothers arms... "Kuseron? Is something wrong?"

He looked back at her. "It's nothing." He replied and curled up beside her, she buried her head against his chest and he nuzzled into her hair.

Haunted dreams awaited him...

* * *

Toph was used to sleeping by Kuseron. She had been for a while, but something was definitely wrong. Said Shadowbender was thrashing by her side. He didn't thrash around in his sleep, she knew that... But taking in the fact he had been tortured in prison. Toph pushed herself up, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Kuse? Wake up!" She muttered.

He didn't wake from his sleeping state. Kuseron only kept thrashing. Toph stood, rushing quickly over to Katara's tent. "Katara!" The Waterbender slowly sat up from her bed, "Toph...? What is it?"

"It's Kuseron. Something's wrong." Toph replied quickly.

Katara was up and out. Toph ran back to her tent where Kuseron was still thrashing. He hadn't changed. Others had woken from the confusion. Katara called out to her brother and Twinkletoes. "Sokka! Aang! Come help me!" She pointed the boys to their spots, pinning the Shadowbender's arms down. "Suki, Zuko. Keep his legs still." Katara commanded.

As soon as he was pinned, Toph heard a bloodcurdling scream. Kuseron was thrashing even more, trying to break free. She heard the swishing of water and Kuse slowly stopped thrashing.

"I think it's over." Katara muttered.

_No. No it wasn't..._

Kuseron flew up, sitting up rigid and probably blinking. He was breathing hard and sweating, his heart beating faster than sound.

"Kuseron? Are you okay?" Katara asked tentatively.

The Shadowbender shifted. "I'm fine... Just a bad dream."

"That wasn't just a bad dream." Zuko replied.

Kuse sighed. "It's just stress from the time in the prison. It'll pass." He grumbled.

They filed out slowly. Toph returned to his side. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Kuseron laid back down. "Yeah. Fine."

* * *

He woke the next morning, feeling ill. It wasn't morning. More likely it was almost late afternoon. Toph was sitting near the edge of the tent and looked at him when he sat up. "Sleep okay?" She murmured. He didn't know how to respond to that. His dream had been horrible. Kuse didn't know how to describe it. "I'm ok." He replied. Toph slowly scooted over to him. She curled up in his arms and leaned into him. "You scared me last night..." Toph murmured. Kuse brushed a hand against her cheek. "I'm sorry, it was..." He trailed off.

Kuseron shook his head. "I can't describe it." He grumbled.

Toph nodded against his chest. The Shadowbender let out a low sigh, nuzzling into her hair. She kept her head buried into his chest for a while before she lifted her head up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Kuseron slowly turned his head to connect their lips.

He didn't want to be apart from her again.

Ever.

Toph kissed him back, but they didn't stay that way when Kuseron heard someone heading their way. Toph broke away from him too, but stayed in his lap. Sokka poked his head in. "Hey Kuse, Suki wanted to talk to ya about something."

He slowly got up and exited the Tent. Sokka pointed to where Suki was. The Kyoshi warrior was sitting on a rock near a cliff. He slowly made his way over to the warrior, wondering what she needed. Suki looked at him, she seemed unprepared. "Hey Kuseron..." The Shadowbender sat down beside her. "I wanted to tell you about my parents."

He quickly shook his hands. "Suki, you don't have to say. I was just wondering because your past seems a lot like mine." He paused for a second, to see if she had anything to say. She didn't speak... "My 'rents left me in Ba Sing Se, They were Kue'sorn Shadow and Asami Fain." He muttered and ran a hand through his hair.

Suki have a million emotions run across her face. "My adoptive father, He told me that I wasn't his daughter. He told me I had a birthmark kind of like a star..."

Kuseron cut in. "Does it look like this?" He shoved his sleeve up and showed her the mark of which he spoke of. A star birthmark.

Suki's eyes widened and rolled up her sleeve.

A Matching set...

Kuseron grabbed her by her shoulders. "Who are your parents?!" He grounded out.

"Kue'sorn Shadow and Asami Fain..." Suki replied.

The Shadowbender drew back and stared at her, getting a bit lost in his memories...

A baby sister.

Him chasing around a girl with... Auburn hair.

He had a sister...

* * *

**Hope you guys like. Not long but a Filler. It hard to write Fillers sometimes... **

**Plot Twist!**


	17. Ember Island Players

**nightX-18: Thank you! And yes, yes I did say, "Hey! That's my line!" ... My Story has the same effect on me, because when I go back and watch old episodes, I expect Kuseron to pop up at any moment... T~T And I forgot to mention the ages in this Fanfic.**

**Kuse - 15 1/2**

**Toph - 14**

**Zuko - 15**

**Sokka - 14**

**Katara - 13**

**Aang - 13 and his original age of 112.**

**Azula - 14**

**Mai - 14**

**Suki - 13**

**To my Editor: Yes. His lute... Ah. Forgot about it because they've not really had that much time to relax. Now since it's the Ember Island Players... Well, you'll see.**

**Enjoy Mi Amigos and Amigas!**

**JtJ**

* * *

[ www. youtube watch? v=iaICCBOub7g Just remove spaces!]

Toph was quite bored again. They were hiding in the Firelord's summer home. That he no longer visited. It was a bit strange but if it kept them hidden, they were fine with that. She was fine with that. Kuseron had disappeared again. The thief had slinked off, muttering things about food and money, carrying his lute with him. It was a beautiful thing to listen to, but she didn't understand why he would take it with him to just go shopping for food. Was he planning on trading it or something? She stared up at nothing, her sightless eyes saw nothing but she could sense Zuko and Twinkletoes practicing their firebending. Kuseron had not been happy when she had told him about what Zuko had done. The Shadowbender had socked Zuko in the jaw before muttering a terse apology and going to lay down in their tent. He was still trying to get over his time in Jail, but he seemed to get nowhere with it. The firebender hadn't minded except for the part when he got socked. Katara had healed the forming bruise and went to check on Kuse for a hopeful mental healing session.

Nonetheless, he was doing better but he still had the dreams. They weren't as bad though. Toph sighed under her breath. She'd rather be with Kuse at the moment, wherever he was.

"Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the Firelord in his own house?" Sugar Queen mused.

Zuko grunted. "I told you my father hasn't come here since our family _was_ actually happy," The Boy sighed. "And that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us."

Boy Wonder and his girlfriend soon showed up. "You guys are not going to believe this!" He stopped, probably grinning. "There's a play about us!"

Suki, Toph had soon found out that she was Kuseron's little sister. Which to her, was really weird. Although, she couldn't blame their parents. She couldn't go back and make them be born separately. That'd be really awkward. "We were just in town and we found this poster!"

Great. Paper...

"What? How's that possible?" Katara asked.

Toph slowly made her way over. "Listen to this, The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production made by a critically acclaimed writer, Pu-on Tim. Who scoured the globe finding information on the Avatar, from the icy south pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se by singing nomads, Pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of Cabbage."

Suki shifted. "Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players."

Toph rolled her sightless eyes. It was going to be nothing to see for her. There was a large possibility that the place was not very Earth-like. Zuko groaned. "Ugh..." He slouched, with a bitter tone to his voice. "Our mother used to take us to see them. They butchered _Love amongst the Dragons_ every year!"

"Sokka, do you think it's a good idea to go see a play about ourselves?" The Waterbender muttered.

Sokka probably was grinning a stupid grin. "C'mon! A day at the theater, this is the kind of wacky stuff I've been missing!"

The Blind earthbender decided to speak up. "Guys, we need to go find Kuseron before we go. I think he'd be missing out."

And so they all set out to search for the missing Mr. Tall, Dark and Creepy. As they made their way to town, people were bustling around a large group of performers. Toph could sense familiar footsteps from the group but it was hard to pick out from the stampede of people around them. Most of the girls were swooning in the crowd, boys and men were fuming... She pushed her way into the crowd and stopped at the edge. The Footsteps grew stronger and she was suddenly pulled into the middle of everyone. She stood, frozen in sudden fear. The person that was playing the instrument beside her, nudged her and a low whisper entered her ears. "Dance."

She glared at the dancing person, who was none other than Kuse. _Who does he think I am?_ Toph did something she knew, the stupid Ballroom dances from when she was a "fragile" child.

The music slowly drew to an end and one of the Performers asked Kuseron, "Do you want to help us perform at the play?"

The Shadowbender laughed heartily. Toph realized he sounded happy. "I can't."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "We're actually going to go see the play." She called back to the performers and pulled the boy along with her to the others. "Are we ready?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah." Twinkletoes replied.

Kuseron bent down to whisper in her ear. "What play are we seeing?" He asked.

"It's about us." She replied.

Kuse drew back up and they all entered the theater and chose their seats.

The up-coming play was something she anticipated, even if she couldn't see it...

* * *

Kuseron quietly sat down beside with a frown. "Nosebleed section? Really? I thought we could do better than this." The Earthbender sat down beside him, followed by Katara, then Aang who was promptly pushed away from Katara by Zuko. Who knew why. He dug into the fire flakes he had picked up and popped some into his mouth. He didn't understand why Sokka had not liked these the first time he tried them. Yeah... He had heard the story. "My feet can't see a thing from up here!" Toph cried. Kuseron slightly grinned at her predicament.

"Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening." Katara replied.

He felt a little antsy for this whole play. The Shadowbender ruffled his hair slightly, stretching out his arm to pull Toph into his side. The girl contently snuggled into his side. The curtain drew up and Kuse watched two players who represented Katara and Sokka "paddle" through the cold waters of the South Pole. Sokka grabbed his sister's shoulder, pointing back and forth between them with excited whispered yelps.

The Player, Katara, spoke. "Sokka, My only brother, we constantly roam these icy south pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling." The actress gave a dramatic sigh.

The actor portraying Sokka, grinned. "All's I want is a full feeling, in my stomach! I'm starving!"

_This guy is worse than _the_ Sokka._ He thought with a scowl.

"Is food the only thing on your mind?" The actress replied.

The actor responded heartily. "Well," He pointed to his mouth. "I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth! I'm starving!"

Kuse let his eyebrow twitch. He was going to be more annoyed than anyone else here... Especially with those type of jokes. They weren't even proper jokes. Sokka whispered outraged to them. "This is pathetic! My jokes are way funnier than this!" He looked angry.

Toph gave a mocking laugh. "I think he's got you pegged!"

Thus, they returned to the play...

"Everyday the world awaits a beacon to guide us! Yet none appears, still we cannot give up hope." Kuseron was staring down at the actress with a look of horror and object surprise mixed together. "For hope is all we have! And we must never relinquish it even to our dying breath!"

Katara looked similarly outraged. "Well that's just silly, I don't sound like that."

Kuseron held his tongue, because he was tempted to tell her otherwise.

"Oh man! This writer's a Genius." Toph was still teasing, but she couldn't tell the effect it was having on the others...

Kuseron leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Toph, you should stop that... They're giving us murderous glares." He grumbled.

The girl was about to respond, but he stopped when Aang spoke. "Wait a minute! Is that a woman?"

The Shadowbender emptied his fire flakes onto the floor and held it close to his mouth, prepared to puke whenever he felt like it. This play was repulsive... He felt his lunch and recent fire flakes, actually climbing it way out. He knew the rest of the story. So he left halfway through and promptly left to go outside and puke. Hey, he loved plays and everything, but this... It was horrible. Kuseron groaned, suddenly feeling a hand on his back. He lifted his head slightly to see Katara. She was frowning. "Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth to respond but only turned his head, retching up what was left in his stomach.

"So far, the intermission is the best part of the play." Zuko grumbled.

Kuseron returned to group, feeling marginally better. Sokka came down the steps, holding a bag of beef sticks. "Apparently the playwright thinks I'm an idiot, who tells bad jokes about meat all the time."

His little sister giggled. "Yeah. You tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics..."

The boy chewed and swallowed, rage on his face. "I know!"

Aang shifted, angry as well. "Well at least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you! That Woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!"

It seemed like everyone was angry! Kuse was just waiting for himself to show up... He wondered how badly he was portrayed in this play, if he was in it at all. The Shadowbender slammed his hand over Toph's mouth, halfway through her sentence. "Didn't I tell you to stop teasing them?" He hissed in her ear. The Blind earthbender scowled around his hand and rolled her eyes.

Katara sighed. "Relax Aang," The Waterbender gave him an eerie calm smile. "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy, cry baby who can't resist giving over-emotional speeches about hope all the time."

Silence met her.

Kuse couldn't bite his tongue quick enough. "Well, actually, most of it's true..." Toph hit him in the ribs.

Katara gave him a pointed glare and he shrugged, giving her the typical, "Couldn't help it" gesture.

They returned to their seats quickly. Kuseron kept his empty bag with him.

_Just in case._

"Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom!" Actress 'Katara' said.

Woman 'Aang' replied with, "I better look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher!" She ceremoniously flew off with a fake air glider.

"This is it! This is where I must come in!" Toph was grinning ear to ear, worth of his Cat-owl grin.

"I flew all over town, but I couldn't find a single Earthbending master!"

Toph was squirming in her seat. "Here it comes!"

Actor... Actor! No. Not _actress, _Actor. As in a male performer... Kuseron slowly growled. "What's next a female me?"

Toph was ecstatic. "I wouldn't have casted it any other way!" She grinned. "At least it's not a flying bald lady!"

Aang's eyes grew as sharp as flint...

_Fuck me._ He grumbled, watching the scene of Ba Sing Se begin. It went through the Party and then immediately skipped to Jet, then... It just got weirder. He was already Hyperventilating into his bag.

It grew close to the invasion and he drew in a deep breath, trying to focus.

Heck, they had the Invasion depicted better than anything else...

"Chung! You traitor! Get him!" 'Azula' cried.

His actor, was luckily a guy. Yay him... But it just got worse from there.

It went spiraling downhill when they depicted him in prison, he blew so hard, his bag popped.

Why they had to remind him of everything there was unbeknownst to him...

In the end, they just killed him off in the prison with one of Azula's lightening bolts.

He immediately spazzed out. Toph grabbed his arm when he made a move to jump of the railing, his little sister grabbed him as well and Katara latched on arm on him, pulling him back into his seat.

"Let me go..." He hissed, in a voice crazier than anyone's could get. "It'll be over quick."

They had to restrain him throughout the rest of the play, just to make sure he wouldn't at least maim one of the actors...

Toph and Suki frogmarched him out.

"That wasn't a good play..." Zuko muttered.

"I'll say." Aang grumbled.

"No kidding... Horrible." Katara sighed.

Toph had finally realized that it _was_ a bad play. "You said it."

"But the effects were decent..." Sokka shrugged.

Kuseron was still hyperventilating and sniggering at the same time, like an insane person. "Let me go. It'll be quick... I swear."

* * *

Toph sighed as she curled up beside the restrained Kuseron. The Shadowbender had obviously not liked the fact that they had killed him in the play, he wouldn't stop muttering things about his time in prison. "Would you just shut up?" She grumbled, kissing him on the cheek. Kuse twitched for a moment before slowly relaxing. "They really butchered us in the play..." He grumbled.

"Yeah, they did." She replied, weaving her fingers into his, releasing the earthen cuffs that kept him in place. "Are you okay?"

The Shadowbender took in a deep breath, sitting up. "Just angry."

She curled up into him. "Well calm down already, it's just a play."

Toph felt Kuseron brush his fingers against her cheek, tossing aside the headband that kept her hair in place. The blind Earthbender felt her locks fall into her face, at least it hid her small blush.

"You should keep your hair down. I like it that way..." He murmured.

She couldn't help but smile. "It's cute." Kuseron finished his simple compliment and drew her face in his palms, his warm skin making her feel slightly better. She was drawn forward slowly, their lips pressed together into a firm, but gentle kiss. Toph brought a hand to rest over one of his, the other snaking halfway around his neck. Kuseron drew her closer when he let his hands fall around her waist, pulling her deeper into the kiss. She felt heightened. Nothing else mattered at that second... Her bare fingers ghosted over his bare chest when she let them drop.

The Shadowbender dug his fingers into her hair and ran them through it. Toph could say, and only ever admit it to herself, it was close to the feeling of silk...

She drew back when it grew hard to breathe. Kuseron's heart was beating faster than light, her seismic sense and her hand over his heart gave it away. Toph knew that they were supposed to be together. No matter who got in their way...

Kuseron grabbed her hand, pulling it up to his face. She let her fingers lightly roll over his face, tracing out his lips, the cheekbones that had come through after his time in prison and finally into his hair.

Kuse murmured something before their lips connected again, she fell back into his warm embrace.

"Goodnight." He murmured.

"Night." She whispered, curling into him.

* * *

**Little progress here with Toph and Kuse. It's 3 in the morning. So sorry if it's a bit sparse...**

**Night people!**


	18. The End is Nigh

**Theta-McBride: So glad you love it. Are you ready for the finale?**

**nightX-18: Sequels~ Of course I am expanding it postwar. There's also going to LoK one too. **

**Parts 1-2 of Sozin's Comet! Mild sexual theme here.**

**Oh and do you guys think we can make it at least 5000 views before this month ends? :D**

**Share it people! Share it! I've already got almost 2000 on this story this month alone, which is the most I've ever had!**

**Enjoy.**

**JtJ**

* * *

"Beach Party!" Sokka and Suki were gone before everyone could follow. Kuseron shook his head slowly. Well, they did have to pass the time. Once the comet passed, they'd finally take down Ozai. It would be another Rematch he couldn't wait for... He planned on giving Azula a severe case of arse kicking... The Shadowbender followed after Sokka and his little Sister. You could say he didn't approve of his Little sister's choice of a man, but it was her choice, not his. Besides, He had Toph. Sure the Boy Wonder could be a dumb, idiotic arse but Suki loved the fool. Toph trailed beside him, with a towel thrown over her shoulder. He was carrying an umbrella, so they could sit together in the shade.

Kuse took the towel from Toph and laid it on the ground, quickly putting the Umbrella into place and sitting down. Toph sat down beside him while staring sightlessly at the ocean. The Shadowbender put an arm around her. Katara was surfing and Sokka was running up and down the beach with stuff. He was building a sand sculpture or something. Aang was halfway finished with his.

Toph stood, going to inspect Aang's sculpture. "Check out my Appa sand sculpture!"

Appa growled in approval.

"Not bad baldy, but I've been working on my sandbending." Toph crackled her knuckles. "You're going to love this!"

It wasn't half bad. It was a miniature version of Ba Sing Se. Aang bent down to look at the miniature Ba Sing Se, in awe. "You even made a little Earth King and Basco!" Kuseron slipped his arm around her waist. "You and your fancy sandbending." He bent down to look closer. "Is that a tiny me?"

"Think you can do better huh?" Toph challenged.

He stepped away from her, bending backwards into a backhand spring. "Just wait." He said and drew into his Snake stance. With a few quick successions from his bending, he had made half of a body. "Puppet Shadow." He hissed. For the final touch, it was the head... His Shadow spun sand into the air, slicing and dicing here and there... Until he flicked his hand upwards. The Shadow sent the head flying, and it landed with perfect aim, right on top of the headless neck.

Toph stood beside him with an almost calculating look. "Is that me?"

"Yes, Yes it is..." He replied. It was a perfect replica of her.

"Whoa..." Aang was staring at it with his jaw dropped to the ground. Kuse did him a favor and snapped it shut.

Then they were suddenly rained in a shower of sand. Toph was grinning maliciously.

"You went there, didn't you?" He muttered.

"Yes. I did." The Earthbender replied.

Kuseron tackled her, hoisting her over his shoulder and spinning around. All for fun really. The Blind girl began to beat on his back. "Put me down!" She cried.

"Never!" He responded.

Toph responded with a sigh and he walked over to where Sokka was, grinning ear to ear like a Cat-owl. "Try and top that Sokka." Toph mused as she was put back down.

"Ta da!" Sokka cried.

_What is that?_ Kuseron tilted his head, trying to see what it was, but it really just looked like a blob...

"What is that? A blubbering blob monster?" Aang asked.

"No! It's Suki!" Sokka cried indignantly.

Aang and Toph bursted out into laughter.

"Actually guys, I think it captures her essence perfectly." He was teasing his little Sister. Suki jabbed him in the ribs. "Watch it Bandit's Boy..."

He glared at his little sister.

"Suki, we all will forgive you if you break up with him over this." Toph mused.

"I think it's cute." Suki replied.

Boy Wonder ran over to Suki and kissed him on the cheek. "But it doesn't even-" Aang was cut off when a fireball made the Suki sculpture explode. Kuseron threw up a shield of darkness, looking up at Zuko as he jumped from a cliff. What was the guy thinking? He shot more fireballs their way, Aang ran faster than the wind but Zuko had quick reflexes. He followed after the Avatar with a determined scowl on his face. "What are you doing?" The Air Nomad cried. Zuko stopped. There was anger rolling off him in waves. "Teaching you a lesson." He shot another fireball at Aang, destroying the Appa sand Sculpture.

Aang leapt away with a burst of airbending. Zuko shot at him again.

And Again...

And Again...

Zuzu ran after Aang and climbed up the cliff after him.

"What happened?" Katara cried as she returned from the waters. Sokka was trying to put his sculpture back into place, but it was already ruined. Kuseron looked behind him. Sokka was going to complain, as per usual. "Oh... And he's attacking Aang!"

Kuseron was already gone. What was Zuko thinking exactly? Sure, they were being lazy but The Air Nomad had been training his butt off. And he meant that literally. The Shadowbender was prepared to help Aang, but it seemed the airbender had it all under control... Zuko was on the ground, groaning. He darted up and Zuko by the shirt, pulling him up onto his feet. Katara and the others appeared a few seconds later. "What's wrong with you? You could have hurt Aang!"

Kuseron let Zuko go. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you?" The firebender grounded out. "How can you guys all have beach parties when Sozin's comet is only 3 days away?" The Firebender growled.

Kuse blinked. _They didn't tell him..._ The Shadowbender shook his head in dismay.

"Why are all of you staring at me like I'm crazy." Zuko asked.

"About Sozin's comet..." Aang frowned slowly. "I was actually going to wait until after the comet to fight the Firelord."

Zuko looked astonished. "After?"

"I'm not ready," Aang replied. He didn't meet Zuko's eyes. "I need more time to master firebending."

Toph spoke. "And frankly, your earthbending could use some work too."

Zuko looked between everyone. "So you all knew Aang was going to wait?"

Sokka stepped forward. "Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Firelord right now, he's going to lose." Aang looked back at Sokka with a glare. "No offense buddy."

Kuseron tuned out their conversation. It was something about Firelord Ozai going to destroy the whole Earth Kingdom...

"Alright! Team Avatar's back!" Sokka broke into his thoughts. Kuseron made his way over beside Toph, wrapping an arm around her.

"Air!"

"Water!"

"Earth!"

"Fire!"

Sokka looked towards him and he snorted as he spoke. "Darkness!"

The Boy Wonder picked up a few leaves, handing one to Suki and holding the other up. "Fan and Sword!"

Aang looked renewed. "Fighting the Firelord is the hardest thing we'll ever do, but I wouldn't want it any other way."

Everyone except him and Zuko went into a group hug. "Kuse..." Toph looked over in his direction.

He shrugged. "Hey, as long as I get to kick Azula's ass, I'm all good." He joined in the on the hug.

Katara was looking over at Zuko, "Get over here Zuko, being apart of the group, also means being part of the group hugs."

Zuzu looked like he was making a decision. "Hey, I learned the hard way, so you better just do it." Kuseron mused with a slight grin.

And he joined them, then Appa appeared and knocked them all over... Kuseron couldn't help but join in the laughter.

* * *

Kuseron sat with Toph in his arms. They had a little while until they were going to go practice fighting the Firelord. You could say they had grown extremely close after he had come back from Prison. They had... Things had changed. He and Toph would spend hours on end like this, entwined together and taking in one another's presence until they fell asleep. Not this time though. Kuseron knew that it was a 50/50 chance if they lived or not... Toph knew it as well. They had their own predicament. He wanted to be with someone before he died... If they lived, then hell. They'd at least stay together.

Kuse had been stripped of his shirt already. Toph's fingers were trailing down his chest, tracing every groove and dip he had. He had come to appreciate her, for many things. She judged him by what she knew about him truly. Their lips connected and he traced her lips with his tongue, seeking entrance. Toph's hands tangled into his messy locks and she parted her lips, a moan escaping her. He broke the kiss, drawing in a breath through his mouth before his bent down and nibbled lightly on her neck.

Toph let out a somewhat surprised gasp. He took it a step further, slowly undoing the ties that kept Toph's shirt in place. His lips met hers before they trailed across her defined cheekbone and then down to her collarbone, to where he began to nibble and suck at her skin again. His hands worked on the ties until her shirt fell. The girl took a moment to shiver as the cold air embraced her, Kuseron brought her closer, letting her grow used to the cool air but also his warm embrace.

Toph bent her head, resting it on his shoulder. He stroked her back with featherlight touches. The Blind Earthbender let out a huff before they both returned to a sudden passionate kiss.

It wouldn't stay long, of course it wouldn't.

Kuse broke from her when his acute hearing heard someone heading to their door. Toph fixed her shirt.

The Shadowbender pulled her into his lap, he still wanted her, but Fate did not want them together yet.

"Hey guys! Let's go." Sokka said.

* * *

"Gather 'round Team Avatar." Sokka mused. He popped the melon onto the fake Firelord. "In order to take out the Firelord, or in this case, the Melon Lord, our timing has to be perfect." He picked up a stick and quickly doodled Melon Lord's head. "First, Suki and I will draw his fire, then Zuko and Katara will charge in with some liquidy hot offense and while the Melon Lord it distracted, Aang will swoops in and BAM! He delivers the final blow." Sokka made the stick carve a line through the Melon lord.

"Uh... What about me?" Toph asked, grinning though.

"And me?" Kuse mused.

Sokka looked at the two of them. "For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces."

The Earthbender grinned more. "So I get to chuck flaming rocks at you?"

"Whatever makes the training more realistic..." Sokka caught his gaze. "And you will be," He raised his hands and bent his fingers in an apostrophe sort of way. "Azula."

The Shadowbender scowled. "Just could have told me that I was going to throw some offense at you guys." He grumbled and stood.

"Sweetness." Toph stood and they quickly took their positions. Well, he was a bit like Azula... No a lot, except he actually had emotions. He didn't hide them behind a shell. He wasn't a psycho either. Azula was the definition of crazy, insane. She should have been in a mental house since she was little. Kuseron stood beside Toph as they waited for it to begin. Toph was in her ready stance when she suddenly threw her head back and laughed, "Mwahahahaha!" The Shadowbender shifted and darted forward as Toph shot a rock towards Sokka and Suki.

His little sister easily flipped over the flaming rock but Sokka had to go around. "Watch it Toph!"

"I am not Toph! I am Melon Lord! Mwahaha!" Kuseron flashed forward, shoulder-checking Suki and making her slide backwards. Kuseron quickly thrusted his fingers into his little sister's sides, making her fall over. The Shadowbender kicked Sokka aside and then turned, darting after Katara and Zuko. The two took out the rock soldiers but he grabbed them, pulling them back before he spun around, using them to propel himself into the air and kicking them both aside.

He landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Now Aang!" Sokka cried as they surrounded him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Aang fly forward, ready to strike but when he landed... He did not strike.

Why?

"What are you waiting for? Take him out!" Zuko hissed.

"I can't." Aang replied.

Sokka marched up to Aang and glared down at the nomad. "What's wrong with you? If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lightening right now!" The warrior cried.

"I'm sorry," Aang did not lift his head. "But it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself..."

Sokka spun around with his Space sword, cutting Melon Lord's head in half. "There, that's how it's done."

* * *

Kuseron was enjoying his little bowl rice, and his side of mystery beef. The Shadowbender hadn't been so hungry in his life after that training. He was munching away when Katara came up, "I have a surprise for everyone!" She cried. He stopped mid-chew before returning to his eating. He felt like he didn't have a stomach anymore. Toph lifted her head. She had some really weird ideas sometimes... "I knew it! You _did_ have a secret thing with Haru!" His bowl flew into the air as he choked on his food. Everyone was looking at her strangely. He wasn't paying attention, only staring at his bowl and the rice scattered around it. "Nooo~" He whispered in a small voice.

"Uh... No." Katara replied. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this!" She unrolled the paper in her head.

He blinked. _Is that Zuko?_

"Look at the baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?" The Waterbender spoke in a baby-like voice. Everyone laughed.

Zuko didn't look happy. "Oh lighten up, I'm just teasing."

Everything got serious when Zuko spoke. "That's not me. It's my father."

Suki protested. "But he looks so sweet and innocent."

Kuseron looked down at his Little sister. "Have many have you sent to their deaths?" His sister looked up at him. The Shadowbender scowled. "How many do you think I've killed?"

Suki frowned slowly, going quiet.

"That sweet little kid grew up to be a monster..." Zuko grounded out between his teeth. "And the worst father in the history of fathers."

Aang spoke next. "But he's still a human being."

"You're going to defend him?"

"No." Aang stood slowly. "I agree with you. Firelord Ozai is a horrible man, and the world would probably be better without him, but there has to be another way."

"Like what?" Zuko grumbled.

Kuseron sighed mentally and stood, walking away from the group. It was just going to be the same thing here... They were going to argue over the whole fact that they had no other way to defeat Ozai. Only after Aang's outburst did he really leave. The Shadowbender stalked after the Avatar, watching him in complete silence as the Avatar sat down to meditate.

He knocked on the nearest wood he could reach. Aang half jumped. "Avatar, can I join you?"

Aang looked back at, glaring at him. "Sure."

Kuseron sat down in his meditative position and took in a deep breath. "I know how you feel."

The Air nomad looked at him again. "How would you know?"

The Shadowbender rolled his eyes. "How do you think I felt when I stayed behind at the invasion? I didn't want to but I knew I had to." He shifted, facing Aang now. "I have no proper advice to give you but I know what position you are in, if there is any way to defeat Ozai without killing him," He paused and lifted a hand, his left hand. The eye blinked slowly before he placed it against Aang's forehead. "You will figure it out."

Aang frowned. "Thanks Kuseron..."

The Shadowbender drew his hand away and he smirked. "Right now, I am Murmur. You're friend Kuseron is somewhat busy."

The boy's eyes flashed. "A spirit?"

"Do you really think someone could have such power without some spiritual force behind it?" He turned, leaving the Avatar to his thoughts.

* * *

They were prepared to leave today, Kuse could really care less. He was sitting beside Toph, strumming on his lute here and there, tuning it a bit. Sokka and the others were packing up and getting ready to leave on Appa. Last night had been a bit confusing, just a bit. He had gone to talk to Aang but Murmur had switched "places" with him and had spoke with the Avatar. He was unsure why Murmur had told Aang he'd be able to figure out a way to not have to kill Ozai. Wouldn't it be better if the Firelord was dead?

"Ok. That's everything." Sokka said, clasping his hands together with a small smile.

Toph shifted beside him. "No it's not. Where's Aang?"

Everyone grew mildly distressed. The Shadowbender sighed, "He's not here."

They stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean Kuseron?" Katara asked.

Kuse looked to his side, Murmur was sitting there, eating an apple. Everyone jumped, except Toph, who probably couldn't sense him there.

"This is Murmur, he's the reason why I'm a Shadowbender." Kuseron grumbled, side glancing at the fiendish man.

Murmur took another bite of the apple before standing. "He left a little into the night after _I_, not Kuse, spoke to him. I am unsure how he left, but I do know he isn't here. You can check the deck of his room, his staff will be there."

Everyone ran off, except him.

They didn't return until later, where he met them on the stairs. Toph came over to him, grumbling about how he was really the only person who ever listened to her. The Shadowbender raised a brow at her. She must have sensed his questioning stance for she just grumbled, "Piss off."

Sokka landed with Appa a few seconds later. "Judging by the looks on your faces, you guys didn't find Aang either."

"No..." Zuko answered shortly. "It's just like he disappeared."

Toph shifted, still a bit bitter looking but spoke. "Has anyone noticed that Momo is missing too?"

Sokka was a dunce. "Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time!" He jumped over to Appa and lifted the bison's mouth open. "Appa ate Momo! Momo? I'm coming for ya buddy!"

Katara rolled her eyes, sighing. "Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo, he's probably with Aang."

Sokka glared back at his sister. "That's just what Appa wants you to think." He climbed into Appa's mouth.

_Loser._ He made his hand into an 'L' and put it in front of his forehead.

"Get out of the Bison's mouth Sokka!" Zuko cried. "We have a real problem here. Aang's nowhere to be found and the Comet is only two days away."

Katara responded first. Kuseron was too busy watching Sokka fall out of Appa's mouth with the bison's salvia on him. "What should we do Zuko?"

"I don't know." The firebender stood.

Everyone was staring at him. "Why are you looking at me?"

Katara replied with, "Well. You kind of are the expert on tracking Aang."

Toph agreed. "Yeah, if anyone's got experience tracking the Avatar, it's you."

Kuseron chuckled under his breath as Sokka slipped on Appa's salvia.

They took off on Appa...

* * *

"And the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?" Kuseron filed in behind everyone else. Why Zuko thought of this place was beyond him? Who was he looking forward? The Shadowbender turned his attention to the woman who was currently fighting off plenty of men, while trying to drink her tea. Zuko pointed to the woman. "Jun." Was all he said.

Sokka blinked. "Oh yeah!" He smirked slightly. "That weird bounty hunter with the giant mole."

"Mole? Her skin is flawless." Suki muttered.

"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on..." Sokka replied.

"A Shirshu." He and Zuko chimed at the same time. "It's the only thing that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have at finding him..."

Toph smirked. "I don't know who this Jun lady is, but I like her!"

Kuseron looked aside at his sister. "Maybe she's our older sister." He was actually joking, but it was funny to see her reaction. He grinned ear-to-ear like a Cat-owl.

Suki glared up at him and slapped him hard on the shoulder.

Kuse laughed. "I was kidding."

* * *

After Jun agreed to lead them to Zuko's uncle, they soon found themselves at Ba Sing Se, well, relatively near Ba Sing Se... They were at the Outermost wall of the city, far away from the city, but still near it. "We're going to Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked as they landed.

Jun looked back at them. "You're Uncle is somewhere beyond the wall, Nayla's getting twitchy so he can't be to far." She turned Nayla around before speaking again. "Good luck."

Kuseron watched the Bounty Hunter and Shirshu disappear. Everyone was looking expectantly at Zuko. The Firebender sighed and turned to them. "It's been a long day, let's camp and start our search again at dawn."

They went to sleep, Kuseron couldn't sleep though...

The Shadowbender pulled out a hook from his bag before tying a taut line to it. He walked over to the wall before swinging it around, releasing it as it swung upwards. He watched the hook catch in a cranny in the wall and he pulled, making sure it would stay there. The thief slowly climbed up the wall before reaching the end of his rope. He dug his hands into the softening rock and pulled himself up, scaling the rest of the wall in silence.

He sat down on the edge and stared out at the distant city. His home was in ruins...

Kuseron's acute hearing went off like a bell. The Shadowbender turned his attention to the group moving towards his friends. He stood slowly, prepared to block them off but someone leapt up beside him and twisted his arms around his back. He heard the familiar sound of Toph's earth tent going down and Kuseron struggled for a second before slamming his elbows into the man's stomach. He quickly scrambled away and jumped off the wall, he landed hard on his hands before he flipped up onto his feet, glaring at the ring of fire around him and the group as he backed into the group.

Four old... Yeah, Old.

Four old men appeared and one of them spoke, "Well, look who's here!" The man broke off in a snort-filled laughter.

The fire died away and the four men made their way towards them. Kuseron was trying to understand what was going on exactly. Toph threw her hands up into the air. "What's going on? Why are we surrounded by old people?"

He had learned to stop questioning the abnormal things that happened to them...

Katara was beaming. "Not just any old people, these are old masters and great friends out ours." She bowed towards one man, one he suspected was a Waterbender too. "Pakku."

"It is respectful for one to bow to their old master," He had bowed back to Katara. "But how about a hug for your new Grandfather?"

Katara threw her hands up, surprised. "That's so exciting!" Sokka gripped his head and gave a sort of squeal.

"You and Gran-Gran must be so happy that you've found each other again."

"I made her a new betrothal necklace and everything."

Sokka grappled hugged his new Grandfather, "Welcome to the family Gramp-Gramp!"

Pakku pushed Sokka off him. "You can still just call me Pakku."

Sokka wasn't letting it go. "How about Granpakku?"

The Old man glared at Sokka before stating simply, "No."

Katara then pointed out another man, "And this was Aang's first firebending teacher..."

Zuko stepped forward and bowed to the man, who bowed back. "Jeong Jeong."

Sokka bowed to his Sword-training master. "Master Piandao."

Piandao bowed back. "Sokka..."

His little sister stepped forward. "How do you all know each other?"

The first man spoke. "All Old people know Old People. Don't you know that?" He laughed.

Kuseron didn't really listen for a while. He only tuned back in when the old man, that he knew as Crazy, pushed Jeong Jeong and Piandao aside. "Wait a moment, Someone's missing... Someone very important in your group..." He walked forward and stared at Sokka. "Where's Momo?"

Sokka blinked. "He's missing... And so is Aang."

The crazy old man patted Sokka on the shoulder. "Oh well, as long as they have each other I'm sure they'll be fine..."

"Now! Let's go!" The man disappeared when he threw himself into the air with a rock, laughing as he went.

* * *

He had missed the ceremonial speech about helping Aang out...

Kuseron had been busy talking to Murmur.

Sokka had filled him in...

The Shadowbender drew in a deep breath as they got ready to take off.

"Let's go." Sokka said and he took off on his lizard.

Kuse took off on a cloud of darkness.

_How is this coming Comet going to affect me?_

* * *

**Questions, Questions~**


	19. Two places, One person

**Sorry guys, busiest weekend and week of my life! Good News though, We've got our shipment! All our stuff is home! Now I can reinstall Word, if we find it...(!) And while waiting for them to finish leaving, I was watching the episodes of Pandora Hearts with Cheshire Cat and realized how similar he and Kuseron look.**

**Me: -glaring at paused screen of Cheshire Cat- ... Could he be...? Another form of Kuseron? -le gasp-**

**12aae87: Kuseron's been drinking! Lol. About the Marriages, that's actually going to happen later on, as in my Sequel. So be prepared for it! Eat plenty of sugary things and shake in your seat for it! :D**

**nightX-18: *grins like Cat-owl***

**TearsOnTheRiver: Thank you. It's great to hear from a Fan. Whoo! And Shadowbenders... *3* **

**Rick Burns: Thank ****you for being honest sir. I always like to hear my reader's opinions. I'm sorry if it isn't fluffy enough for you. This is my first Romance after all. I am more of the Action, Adventure writer. So please take pity on me if it seemed a bit abrupt... And I was actually thinking of doing an Azula and Kuseron fanfic, just because I think it fits... Anyways, Kuseron loves that you fear his powers. It pleases him... A lot. If you like, stick around, I'll try my best to put more fluff in the sequel. :3**

**I feel evil in this... I really do. *coughs* Just read on.**

**Kuseron: He's gonna-! **

***Shoves Kuse back into his closest***

**SHUUUUUUUUSH! No Spoilers!  
**

**JtJ**

* * *

It's a stretch being two places at once... Not easy, but it was good enough when you had an aid of a spirit. He was with Sokka, his sister and Toph. Murmur-him was with Katara and Zuko. The Comet was soon to be upon them. They had little time to make it to where the airships were taking off at. Kuseron looked down at his dwindling cloud of darkness. _I see..._ He murmured in thought, scowling. He prepared himself, propelling himself faster and past the others. He landed in a roll when his cloud flickered away.

He was hoping now Murmur had a better chance, since he _was_ darkness...

The others arrived on the lizard. They got off and ran up the hill in silence. As they got to the top... Boy, they were in for a surprise. The airships were just beginning to take off. Kuse lifted his eyes. He was tuned out from the others. He was focusing on what was ahead.

Well, until they literally flew, like he could actually spread his arms and flap them. Kuseron landed softly on his feet on the cool metal that was attached to the airship. Toph seemed to have misjudged. Just slightly.

He caught her by the back of her shirt as she began to fly over his head. The other two, with senses that weren't as acute as his, slowly gathered that Toph was maybe going to fall, but he had already pulled her into his arms. "Let's go." He muttered as he set her down.

* * *

Murmur saw no benefit in fighting a deranged woman. The Spirit, who was posing as Kuseron for now, lifted his eyes. The comet was drawing near. At least, if Kuse lost his powers, he'd still have his. The boy was very influenced in his style of fighting. He'd do well without the darkness inside...

This woman, no, she was still a girl for her age but she was matured. Now crazy though...

_Azula..._ She was the one who had carved the word into his vessel's back. The Spirit lifted his head, coming out of his thoughts to hear Zuko finish his sentence.

"The Avatar will return, and He _will_ defeat Ozai..." Katara and Zuko both jumped.

The Spirit put on the typical Kuseron sneer. "Kuseron? I thought..." Katara was looking at him as if he was a mirage, a ghost... Murmur chuckled, throwing back his head with a laugh that most would describe as dark. "No dear. I am Murmur. I came to help." He replied.

The two dimwits looked at one another before returning to watch below, waiting to hit Fire Nation territory.

_Darkness be with you Kuseron Shadow..._

* * *

He felt strange, weird... It was as if something was missing inside of him... They had already taken out the guards controlling the airship. Kuseron could hardly pay any attention to what they were saying. He could almost feel the darkness dwindling, like it was disappearing from inside him. They didn't seem to notice him at the moment. Sokka was handing out commands like the bossy brat he could be.

"Oh, sure, Let the blind girl steer the giant airship." Toph said sarcastically.

Sokka snorted, "I was talking to Suki."

Kuse watched his sister take the wheel for the ship and mentally groaned, turning his attention to himself. His tattoos were flashing. His skin crawling. Everything felt like it was just peeling away. "Take us..."

"Captain... Special... Celebrate."

He could hardly hear anything. Something was taking over, coming from the inside. He didn't know what it was, but it was darker than the darkness he had ever felt. Something hidden inside him, in Murmur... In his past lives.

Kuseron let out a groan, shaking more. Like convulsions wracking through his body. They stopped only seconds later. He felt like his vision was going in slow motion. Sokka and the others had gathered around. He couldn't hear them. They were trying to speak to him, but he couldn't hear a thing. It was like everything was cut off from him.

Then, it just all seemed to cut back in.

A laugh bubbled past his lips and he slowly rolled up into a sitting position, a smirk across his face.

"Brother? Are you alright?" Suki whispered.

He drew his tongue across his top lip, "Most certainly sister dear." He whispered in a deadly voice.

* * *

Murmur froze. Something wasn't right... His vessel, something just didn't seem right at all.

_What is this?_ The spirit looked down at his hands. Everything felt like it was shifting. It just didn't feel right at all. What was happening to his vessel? Why did he feel the urge to kill all of a sudden? The Spirit wrapped his hands around the body he had procured for the fight against Azula, groaning.

Something just felt like snapping. It was something darker than him, something inside that was more powerful, it made him sick.

The spirit shot a glance at the sky. Was this inner thing coming out because of the comet?

_No..._

* * *

"...stop from burning down the Earth Kingdom." Sokka said quickly.

Toph wasn't pleased with the answer, he could tell. "And how do you suppose we do that Captain Boomerang!? I can't see out of this floating hunk of metal!" She threw her arms up, frowning.

Kuseron couldn't help but laugh, "Why don't you let me do something...? I wouldn't mind killing them..." He twitched, a spasm running through his body that only made him laugh again. "All of them."

Sokka looked back at him, eyes a bit wide. "Dude, you're getting real creepy over there."

"No kidding." Suki muttered.

"But! Back to it, we need to take them all out at once..." Sokka tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Airship slice!"

The Shadowbender laughed again.

Suki went back to steering, pulling them back up from the sea and into the sky, slowing down a bit so they could come up above the other airships. Kuseron was twiddling with a piece of glass in his hands, watching the airships below them. "Oops." He muttered under his breath as the glass cut into his right palm, blood began to ooze from the small gash and he watched it drip for a moment before licking his palm. Toph came to stand beside him, "Whoa..." They were beginning to destroy the Earth below. "That's a lot of fire isn't it...?" Kuseron drooped his arm around her shoulder, smirking ear to ear darkly. "It's all going to be red soon. Everything will be bathed in red." He whispered.

Toph's eyes widened, her mouth open to say something but He only grabbed her arm as Sokka spoke, "We need to get to the top of this thing! Fast!" He pulled her along before long, just pulling her onto his back, Kuse blasted them both up the ladder and pulled Sokka and his sister up.

He ran forward, head for the very top like Sokka said. He was unaware of the darkness that had begun to appear on his chest, like hardening skin, spreading slowly to his other limbs.

Sokka and Suki pulled up the rear, they were right there, close to the top.

A loud, resounding -_crack_- and then it happened... The airship began to break more. Sokka and Suki being left behind on the airship. "Kuseron!" Suki cried out. The Shadowbender turned slightly, smirking at them. Sokka and his sister landed on the other airship.

"Finish the mission Kuseron!" Sokka called.

The Shadowbender twitched, dark hands clawing their way down his legs. It was slowly trailing up his chest and neck, slowly reaching his head. Toph cried out something he barely heard, something like, "...Jump!" And he did so. Landing quickly on the airship, he threw himself over the Earthbender.

The darkness wrapped around his face, the Shadowbender only had seconds to realize so... A gasp escaped his lips.

_Let the darkness out from the heart, purify these hearts and turn darkness into light._

It was too late for that.

* * *

Murmur could tell what Azula was doing, by trying to separate all three of them. "Wait Zuko..." The spirit whispered. He spoke before Zuko could finish accepting the challenge. "I implore you, just for one thing."

The former prince looked at him expectantly. "Yes Murmur?"

"Let me fight her. Just because I can't firebend, doesn't mean anyone can except the challenge..." He whispered with a wisp of something in his voice. The Spirit felt it growing, like embers slowly becoming a raging fire.

The Prince stared at him, even Katara looked at him with confusion. "You must let me do this." He stated with no room for argument. Zuko frowned. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but since you are a spirit... Go ahead."

Said Spirit turned to Azula, glaring up at her with every ounce of hatred he had in his eyes. "Hello Azula."

The girl's face went stony, "You..." She whispered. Azula made her way down the steps, coming to face him with a glare. "Come here to become my pet after I destroy little Zuzu?"

Murmur scowled, "Actually, _I'm_ your opponent." He replied.

The look on her face was almost priceless...

An Agni Kai. He had never been in one, but one of his many lives had. Yes, he could remember it. They were on opposite ends of the courtyard. Murmur slowly stood, lifting a hand in the air. "Let the darkness out from the heart, purify these hearts and turn darkness into light." He whispered. A ball of darkness began to form in his hand and what he saw could be haunting...

Darkness _actually_ came out of his heart, it also came escaping from Zuko and Katara... Murmur would take no chances. He watched as it swirled around him, the Spirit turned. The Shadows stuck to him. Azula turned as well, dropping her cloak. "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

Murmur scowled. "No, you're not..."

She drew into her stance, ready to fight. Murmur was seeing things in slow motion, slowly as she began her assault. She spun around, flashing a hand forward. The spirit had no control over himself now, something else had taken over... He threw back his head, a laugh escaping him as the darkness rose from the ground and wrapped itself around him.

[ i595. photobucket albums/ tt32/ RiftCreator1/ Heartless/ - To see what he and Kuse look like now. I love Heartless! (Just make all spaces disappear and put in . c o m) ]

The darkness bursted forward from him, destroying the fire that Azula had sent at him. He... No... It. It swiped a sword forward as Azula sent more fire towards the thing that had taken Murmur's place. Azula didn't seem phased by the transformation. Now, the darkness and Fire were equal. The comet effect it no more. The beast stood it's ground as Azula sent wave after wave of fire. It thrusted its sword forward as Azula sent a large blast at it. The darkness flew forward and the two elements met until they both caused one to break sideways. The beast did not flinch when it was only inches away.

No instincts to dodge, none to move away. This beast was going to stay where it was...

Azula looked back at the damage done by the blast of darkness. It had cut into the building behind her. She looked furious, leaping into the air, she unleashed a fiery kick down at the Darkness. The beast spun around, slicing through the blue flames. She was looking at him with a mixture of confusion, frustration and rage. This did not register with the beast.

It made the first move, a bellow of animal-like qualities escaping it. It spun... And kept spinning, a large ball of darkness flying towards Azula as it came to a slow stop, a hand pointed towards her. A familiar eye was etched into the dark skin-like hide. The Fire princess leapt out of the way before zooming towards the beast with her blue fire, throwing forward to large blasts of fire. The beast hit the ground with it's large sword and leapt up into the air, darkness pushing it into the air. It kicked with one of its thin, long legs and began to drop, it's sword dropping down with it.

The blue flames that had been sent towards it, dispersed and the beast drew into a fighting stance, the blade lifted over it's head. Azula flew forward at it, using her fire boosters to get closer. The beast blocked a blast with a swipe of it's arm and drew darkness around itself as she tried to blast it from behind. It swung it's blade at her repeatedly, missing each time.

Until it hit the ground with it's sword, darkness flying up in a circle around it, one hitting the monstrosity nearby.

Azula tumbled and hit the ground, breathing in rapidly. The beast was smirking at her, the darkness peeling away from it's head as an all to familiar voice rung out with a background voice, a dark voice echoing his words. "No lightening today?" He taunted, red eyes gleaming as the darkness swirled around Murmur-Kuseron. [ watch?v=_OfaBRz9FQY Just plug into youtube! And imagine Kuse speaking with that kind of voice echoing...] Azula stiffened, looking ready to burst with another wave of anger. "Yeah! Afraid I'll redirect it!"

Murmur-Kuseron's head flashed to his left side, Zuko and Katara had jumped into this fight. "Oh...! I'll show you lightening!"

It was shot before he had time to move. "No!" He flashed forward with the use of darkness aiding his feet with an extra push. He pushed Zuko out of the way, the lightening bolt hitting him dead straight in the chest. The lightening still hurt him, even through the hide-like dark skin on him. Another animal-like bellow escaped him, he hit the ground in seconds. There was no mark, it didn't show up. He was still alive though, the darkness on his chest had been burned away but it was rebuilding. Slowly... Katara and Zuko began to run towards him but another lightening bolt hit the area in front of their feet. Azula was laughing now as she began to run forward.

Probably to bring the final blow.

* * *

The Shadowbender pulled Toph along on the airship, darting to the end and letting her slip off his back. "Stand back! I'm going to bring this thing into a turning position!" The Earthbender cried. Kuseron did so, standing back a few steps. The darkness had covered him but somehow, he still had some control. The mask of darkness on his face had peeled back on his command, but he still had the urge to kill. Toph spat onto her palms, gripping into the metal and pulling. She pulled on it, making the metal bend. She was done in seconds.

"Have I ever said how cool it was that you invented Metalbending?" He asked.

Toph looked towards him. "No, but you can stand to mention it more." She smirked at him.

A flap suddenly opened and Kuseron gripped onto a blade of darkness, rushing past Toph as the man began to send a fire at the two of them. He sliced through the fire and came up to the firebender, drawing back a hand with claws and swiping down. The man underneath the mask cried out in sudden pain and fell backwards, another firebender climbing to take the other's place. Kuse turned and ran towards Toph, grabbing her by her hand and pulling her along, a large blast of fire swiftly gaining on them.

He leapt up into the air, gripping onto the blade and swinging into the nearby metal. It was slicing through it but it was slowing their descent a bit. His sword slipped from his hands as it hit something, spinning out of his fingers. Toph screamed. Kuseron felt himself hit one of the metal stands, a groan escaping him. "Hang on Toph! I...!" He let out a painful yelp, a familiar sensation running up his arm. It was the same arm that had been pulled out from it's socket. Katara had fixed it but said that nothing heavy should have been lifted with it. Toph wasn't that heavy! But with her hanging in midair, it made it easier for his arm to tear. "Aye Aye." Toph replied.

He saw from the corner of his eyes, two firebenders made their way on either side of him on other stands. He swung his arm around, two blasts of darkness escaping his hand as he did so. One hit one of the firebenders, the other cut into the metal and got the other man suspended in the air. Firebenders came across the deck, in a ready stance to attack him. "I... Toph! I can't, I'm sorry." He felt his arm tear more. "I don't... I think this is it." He said. He was prepared, ready for the end... And at the exact moment the words left his mouth, a spasm over took him(Guesses anyone?).

_Murmur!_ He cried in his head, crying out in agony.

It was not over. Another scream pierced his acute hearing.

_Toph__!_ Kuseron quickly rolled off the platform as the firebenders sent their blasts of fire at him. Something hit him in his head.

His vision blacked out.

* * *

Murmur glared up at Azula, a ring of blue fire kept Katara from coming any further. Zuko had been knocked out when a large blast of fire had made a pillar collapse. "You lose." She whispered, drawing back a hand. Murmur reached towards his sword as She began to pushing her hand forward.

In a matter of seconds, life could be changed...

The Spirit was standing, his sword having stopped the fire. "_I_ will not let you win." He hissed, his voice echoed by the darker voice.

Azula glared at him, readying for another strike but it was over in a swift motion as the string finally snapped. Murmur flashed forward, thrusting his sword forward as it did.

A yelp of agony was cut short. Azula was impaled on the sword.

He drew in a deep breath, beginning to laugh. "I told you..." He whispered in a dead tone. Murmur brought up his foot, kicking her off his blade and licked a bit of blood off his arm, sneering down at the dying witch.

Azula's final glare said it all before the lights dimmed from her eyes.

It was over here...

* * *

He could hear something. It wasn't right... It was screaming. Kuse's eyes flashed open and he let his vision begin to grow colorful again. He caught sight of something green and white. Kuseron suddenly gained every sign of life back when he realized it was Toph. They were falling. There was another scream resounding, it was from above them. It sounded like, "Brother!" The Shadowbender paid no heed to the other scream, only slamming himself into a log-like position and speeding up after Toph.

She was spinning as she fell, so he could catch up easily.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning around to where his back was to the earth. "I'm not letting you go yet." He whispered calmly into her ear. Toph dug into him. The Shadowbender drew in a deep breath. The hide-like skin of darkness dispersed, beginning to form a bubble around them.

_Will it be enough?_

* * *

Toph felt arms wrap around her. She suddenly felt secure, safe... The earthbender no longer felt like she was falling. She drew in a deep breath. It was just a nightmare. All of it was a nightmare. She tried to hide in him. He was like a safe haven to her now. Someone she could fall back on. Kuse was something she had always been missing from her life.

It shattered.

Something shattered.

She didn't know what it was but suddenly Kuseron's heat, his warmth was gone and replaced with the cold ground as she began to skid across it. The earthbender groaned as she came to a stop, barely registering the pain in her ribs and left leg. She slowly pushed up, trying to think. It was all real. None of this was a bad dream. It was real. She couldn't deny it. Toph lifted her head, rubbing a small gash before dropping back down to the ground again. "K-Kuseron?" She called out, her own voice was hoarse. It was horrible to hear.

There was no response from him.

Toph pushed back up, sensing his form not to far away. The girl began to stumble over to him, only falling beside him with a painful groan. "K-Kuse?" She grabbed his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

The thief did not respond.

She _wanted_ this to be a nightmare. It was not right! Not him. Where they really going to take him away?_  
_

She shook him a little harder. The Shadowbender did not stir...

His heartbeat faint.

Breath fading.

_No... Please, not him. Anyone but him._

* * *

**Cruelty****!**


	20. Welcome Back

His eyes snapped open.

He was certain, most certain that he had died...

Kuseron shifted slowly, sitting up in the bed.

"Where...?"

He looked out the window. There was no comet.

The Shadowbender took in the scenery before him.

An Earth kingdom home?

He stood slowly and made his way over the nearby sliding door, rubbing his head.

_Music?_

"Zuko! Stop moving!" A familiar voice... Sokka. "I'm trying to capture the moment!"

Kuseron gripped the sliding door, slowly opening it a bit. Just a crack. To see what was going on...

"I wanted to do a painting, so we'd always remember the good times together..."

He saw Katara walk over to the table Sokka was working at. "Well that's very thoughtful of you Sokka..." She paused. "Wait. Why'd you give me Momo's ears?"

The Shadowbender knew where this was going.

Everyone complained a bit. The Shadowbender quietly entered the room, even escaping Toph's notice as she spoke. "Well I think you all look perfect!"

"Really now?" He questioned, coming up behind her and drooping an arm around her neck. "Tell me Sokka, what do I look like?"

His friends all looked quite surprised.

He smirked at them, "Another miracle eh?"

Toph turned and hugged him, burying her face into his chest. "Welcome back." She whispered.

* * *

**A Short sweet ending eh? Couldn't type anymore anyways... Too tired.**

**Well that's the end folks.**

**Be prepared for my next story, the Sequel to this:**

**Darkening Shadows!**

***throws confetti into the air***

**Yay! Celebration for me! Don't forget to also check out my tumblr! I will probably post an excerpt there soon for the first Chapter of Darkening Shadows! jextjagged. tumblr. com**


	21. NOTE

**GUYS! If you have already read this story, than go to Darkening Shadows! I will be updating over the weekend. I swear I will, so Please read DARKENING SHADOWS: THE SHADOWBENDER CHRONICLES now.**


	22. NOTE NUMBAH 2

Hey! HEYHEYHEYHEYHEYHEYHEY! HEEEEEEEEEY~!

-taps computer screen-

C'mere...

I just want to tell you something...

Darkening Shadows has been posted. It's ready for you guys to go all crazy over...

NOW GO! Or I shall be forced to delete this story forever! MUWHAHAHA!


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